Skin deep
by Julia and Tania
Summary: A story that tells of Sakura's desire for the attention of a guy who pays little attention to her. Another is dismissed, but remains waiting. Time changes a lot but true happiness comes only to those who see.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura is the copyright of CLAMP. No infringement intended. This is only for entertainment purposes.

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REVISED  
We have revised this chapter to Chapter 05 to include more character introductions and atmosphere. Also, the school system we used in this fanfic is based on the one we know. However, we have decided to use the Japanese school year. And one other note, we have used the legal drinking age in our country which is 18 instead of the Japanese legal drinking age of 20 .

From the writers, please enjoy this fanfic. Any comments you have are muchly appreciated. :o) :o).

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**Skin-deep  
****©2003, 2008, 2011 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 01  
02 December 2003**

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_**Location: **__School fields, sitting on top of a tree  
__**Time frame: **__1:20pm, Lunchtime  
__**Point of View: **__Syaoran_

I was not far enough from the thunderous laughter down below, even as I sat high up on this lofty tree in the school fields—not nearly far enough from the group of social elites who sat in the middle of the fields.

They often hung out here for their lunchtimes and normally I could withstand the noise that came from them, but it was intolerable this afternoon as I tried to read the letter I held in my hands. Another battering to my eardrums came with a pitchy shriek. I now wished I had chosen to spend my lunchtime in the library and not have been swayed to spend it outside by the pleasantly warm air of this spring afternoon.

I eyed the girl the shriek had come from and thought disdainfully: for someone who had enough intelligence to be a school prefect, she could not judge someone of good character. She was Kinomoto Sakura, the Head of Social—one who was intelligent in many ways, but that intelligence seem not have transferred onto her preference in guys: she was one of many girls who swooned over a cocksure loser, this Ashida Kansuke, the school's star football player who had a largely inflated ego that I have the unfortunate opportunity to have come up against during a season of playing football for the school.

Such ego doesn't put people off it seems. The female population of this school turn into salivating automatons at the sight of him. Foolish this particular population is as those who idolise and fall to his 'charm' are unaware of his true character and nature: a Neanderthal, pompous and narrow-minded individual who cared only about and for himself. They need to avoid or interact with caution.

Kinomoto was now trying to exit from Ashida's arms, but her friends, Daidouji Tomoyo and Mihara Chiharu cornered her to remain as she was. Her friends were a few girls who were not a part of Ashida's female population. They were already taken. My friend and Head of Sports, Yamazaki Takashi, was Mihara's boyfriend, and the Head Boy, Hiiragizawa Eriol, was Daidouji's, who was herself a prefect—Head Girl of the school. However, they supported their friend's poor choice.

I had forgotten about the letter I held in my hands. It threatened to go airborne with the wind blowing hard at it. I strengthened hold on it. It stayed.

This letter, I'd left it unread for several days now because any letters or emails I received were from back home and the majority of their contents never carried anything of particular excitement; weighty news always accompanied them.

The writer was always my cousin and good friend, Meiling. Her letters always started off pleasant, then it moves to unpleasant further into the letter. I have only myself to blame, though. Before I left home, I asked her to inform me all of Mother's dealings which remotely affected me. I may need to reconsider about getting her to inform me of such things in the future.

Such information was that Mother has befriended a business associate and has taken a liking to his daughter. Now in this letter, Meiling informs me that Mother has been in regular contact with the business associate and his daughter, and has ardently talked about getting her to meet me.

My mother, she was a business woman, who, after my father passed away when I was young, took over his advertising company. Her work and home life merged into one after this point and though I do love Mother, I have become less fond of her throughout the years because of her scrutiny and demands. I felt as if I was comparable to an employee in her company: before, I had some freedom and choice in my direction and path and in my personal life, now I feel I have little to none as Mother overlooks every area of my life with great detail. It is rare she does not object to a decision I make because she believes she knows what's best for me and my future—which—she does not.

However, I must give credit to her for allowing me to leave Hong Kong to come to Japan to complete my last two years of high school. She'd found validity in my argument that studying abroad would give me valuable life skills. So, for over a year now, I have been living by myself in a rented apartment in Japan.

I'd chosen to study in Japan for my interest in mechanics and for the country being a leader in producing automobiles. So far, the closest thing in pursuing this is my part time job at a petrol station near my school. Though school and work gives little time to do not much else, I have been actively seeking voluntary work in workshops. With my plan to head over to Europe to attend a university there, I needed an application with impressive grades and extra curricular activities to show for my dedication to succeed.

Living here has indeed given me much freedom and choice to explore on my own—to which I would not have otherwise been able to had I been back home. However, in saying that, distance does not bring complete freedom and choice. No distance can stop a strong force from imposing one's preferences on another when there are ways to get in touch. And a strong force Mother is. I cannot go about dealing with her forthrightly and untactfully. I must find a way out of this new predicament ingeniously.

The sound of the bell rang. I returned the letter back into my bag, grabbed my bag, and descended down the tree.

It was relatively quiet as I made my way down the hallway to Calculus. I suspect most were waiting for the final bell to sound before making a start to their fifth period class as I only saw a handful of people here at their lockers getting their gear out.

Fast and loud footsteps then disturbed the quietness.

"Li—hey, Li!"

I turned and found Yamazaki Takashi. He reached me in a pant. All of his weight came onto my right shoulder as he took some moments to catch his breath.

"Do you have a calculator I can borrow? I have a statistics test and I forgot to bring my calculator. _Please_ say you do?"

"I have one." Yamazaki's expression lit up, but I halted his hopeful expression. "But I might require it for my next class."

He grabbed my shoulder with strength and desperation. "Oh you _have_ to let me borrow it! I have a test. Please, you have to lend it to me!"

I sighed at his disorganisation. If he had a test today, he should have made sure he had everything for it the night before instead of standing here before me pleading for a missed item that he needed so desperately. The final bell to fifth period sounded. He remained standing before me with even more urgency as I seemed to be his last hope. A moment passed before I finally took compassion on him. I went into my bag, grabbed the object out of it, and parted ways with my calculator.

"Thanks—thanks _so_ much! You saved me from failing the test!" My books dropped to the ground upon his frenzied shakes on my shoulder.

"Sorry! Thanks!" He then scuttled away at speed, going back in the direction he came from, leaving me to retrieve my scattered books and stationery on the floor.

I sighed once more: he was a prefect, yet he was one of the most disorganised people I have met.

I resumed. The hallway was now crowded with people—some at their lockers getting their gear out, and others making their way into classes. Appearing before me, were several from the group I saw sitting in the fields during lunchtime, rowdily making their way to class as well: Kinomoto Sakura appeared distressed as two of her friends laughed uncontrollably around her.

02 December 2003


	2. Chapter 2

**Skin-deep****  
****©2003, 2008, 2011 By Julia and Tania****  
****Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic****  
****Chapter 02****  
****11 December 2003**

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_**Location:** In the hallway, heading to mathematics class  
**Time frame**: 1:30pm, Start of fifth period  
**Point of View:** Sakura_

When you're at the top of the school's social ladder like me, it's hard to know who are genuinely interested in being friends with me, and who wants to be my friends because of the power and status I hold and can offer them. There have been people who I thought were friends I trusted, to find out that they only used me as a way to get into the in-crowd. Out of the many 'friends' I have, I'd say, only a handful of people qualified as a true friend.

We made our way to fifth period Calculus class and next to me were two of my supposedly closest friends laughing their faces off. Whilst I felt like I could just crawl into a hole and die, they couldn't give a rat's ass I was feeling this way.

"It's not funny, you guys—pushing me into Kansuke like that," I told them. They only laughed more. "Why are you still laughing? I'm angry at you guys!"

They didn't listen. I sighed in frustration.

Daidouji Tomoyo, my best friend, and Mihara Chiharu, one I considered my closest friend, had conspired against me out in the school fields. I was comfortably having a nice conversation with Ashida Kansuke about football (well—as comfortable as to not splutter all over my words: that's what usually happens when you talk to the school's most popular guy and hottest football mid-fielder there ever was), when the two somehow managed to trip me and send me directly into Kansuke's arms.

Friends, they're supposed to be the ones to make you feel better—look out for you and have your best interest in mind, not make you feel embarrassed. I couldn't understand how someone such as Daidouji Tomoyo, the usually sweet and thoughtful best friend, could do that to me. She was supposed to look out for me, side with me. She was my best friend! Mihara Chiharu, she was a little more on the wilder side, but a close friend she was, she should also have my back. This afternoon, though, no: neither Tomoyo nor Chiharu acted like my friend when they made me red in the face in front of the guy I have liked since my junior years.

I remember the day I saw him and told myself that he was the guy for me. I was on my cheerleading practice and he with his football practice on the fields. I remember thinking how good he looked in his sports uniform and how all the other guys around him just couldn't match up—skill-wise and appearance-wise. I love his eyes; the way he styled his golden brown hair; his smile—everything about him was great! Our groups were separate back then, but with Eriol and Takashi being his friends, we were now one huge group that ruled the school; and I was slowly getting closer and closer to my goal of being his girlfriend.

I don't think he'll think much of me after what happened, though. He probably now thinks I'm a real big geek after being mute for the whole time I was in his arms. _Oh, I am so stupid!—Why didn't I say something?_

"Oh c'mon, Sakura, it wasn't that bad! He didn't push you away. He even looked like he liked you being in his arms," Chiharu said.

"Yes it was!" I said. "How would you like it if I forced you into the guy that you liked, huh?" I shook my head. "That was so not nice, guys! It was… it was…" I then shut my eyes, trying to shut the terrible images out of my mind, "…so embarrassing."

Instead of sympathy like I wanted, Chiharu snorted a laugh of amusement before she said, "Yeah, like you didn't enjoy it! You did, didn't you, Sakura?"

I was at a lost for words with her response. I frowned.

Chiharu placed a hand on her hip. "What?—are you saying you didn't want to be in his arms and have him hold you close like that? You didn't like it one bit?"

"Yeah, I liked it." I paused then glared—"after the fact."

Chiharu's unhappy expression returned to its former state, lifting, satisfied with my answer. "Well then, we rest our case. You enjoyed it heaps, so there really isn't a problem, is there?"

I didn't answer. I still found their actions during lunchtime unacceptable. Tomoyo reasoned with me.

"You know we only did it because we think that you never ever do anything about it. Ashida will never notice you if you always stand or sit there quietly staring at him from a distance. You must let yourself be seen instead of being in the shadows."

"Tomoyo's right, Sakura," Chiharu chimed in. "He's a very popular guy. He has lots of girls liking him. You got to at least try to let him know that you exist; make an impression on him or else you'll be like a blip in his radar."

"That's right. So, we just helped you and gave you that extra 'push'."

They were right: I would have never had the guts to get him to be as close to me as he was this lunchtime. If my friends didn't do what they did this afternoon I would've continued watching him from the sidelines. In secret, I will thank my friends for letting me know how it feels to have Kansuke's arms around me, but out in the open, they need to know they can't do these things. It was lucky that things went right. He could have rejected me and that would have been disaster.

"Okay, whatever guys," I said. "You win—but still not nice, okay?" They just gave me a ridiculously proud grin. I rolled my eyes then slapped the two playfully.

A ring tone of a cell phone pierced through the air. I looked to my cell phone I held in my hand, but realised that it wasn't my phone that had rung when I saw no name or numbers displayed on the screen.

"Meiling."

I turned to see Li Syaoran—or rather the 'Loner', the name I prefer to refer to him as—standing in a corner between the lockers and hallway walls answering his phone. I turned back to the front and told myself to remember to change my ring tone so that it didn't have the same ring tone as his one.

"It never stops ringing. It's actually really annoying how it rings so often," Chiharu said.

"He's quite popular," Tomoyo suggested.

"Popular? I don't think so. Why do you think some people call him 'Loner'? I don't even know why Takashi is friends with him. He's odd. He doesn't talk much and he likes doing a lot of things by himself," Chiharu said.

Tomoyo just shrugged and I had no reply to that. Chiharu had said it all: he was odd and was a loner. Who cares about a loner?

We entered our class. We took our seats at the back as we waited for Mr. Hisamatsu to arrive for our fifth period, Calculus class.

Chiharu bounced back out of her seat. "Actually, I'm kinda thirsty. I think I'm going to get some water. I'll be back guys."

"You decide you're thirsty now?" I asked.

"I'm thirsty now," Chiharu replied. Her eyes then shifted left then right. "Should I not?"

"Second bell's rung, that's all. Mr. Hisamatsu might come in soon and the drinking fountain is far," I explained.

Chiharu waved my concern off. "Oh yeah—no worries! I'll get back in time. It's okay. Be back soon, girls."

She then headed out.

I looked around the room. Many seats were empty. Kansuke's was empty, along with his gang. I wondered where he was. He left the fields before us as well. Maybe he decided to skip this last class. I felt myself feeling disappointed to that thought.

My ears were then perked up by the sound of his delightful laughter. He entered the classroom with his friends. He winked at me as he found my gaze on his way to his desk in the middle of the room; my heart fluttered.

"Hey, Sakura," Tomoyo called.

I left Kansuke and turned to her.

"Hm?"

"Remember last year's exchange program?"

The exchange program Tomoyo was talking about was the annual sports event that happened every winter between our school and our sister city in Hong Kong.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I thought it was strange how Kansuke got really angry—so much so that towards the end of their conversation, he shoved Li hard. They had just won the game too, so I don't get why Ashida was so angry at Li."

I cocked my head. "This is a bit random. Why are you remembering this?"

"Well, I was just thinking how funny it was for Ashida to shove Li like that."

My friend's reply hadn't explained her interest in an event that happened last year, but as she seemed to dwell on it so seriously, I gave it a thought.

"He could have done something to annoy him."

Her eyes and mouth widened. I seemed to have turned the light bulb on.

"A girl!"

"A girl?"

"I bet you it was over a girl. Ashida must have shoved Li because of that."

"I don't think so. Kansuke isn't threatened by that Loner. Besides, the girls that Kansuke attracts are in a whole different league from those that the Loner attracts. There's no way Kansuke could like a girl that liked that Loner as well."

"It is possible, Sakura. Li is a cool person. He was on the football team, I have you say, and you may not be observant enough—as you are only always ogling at Ashida Kansuke (I poked a tongue out)—but I know there are quite a lot of intelligent and beautiful girls going after Li Syaoran."

He was not popular and definitely not cool. Her description of him is inaccurate. I will tell you that no one in this school thinks he's cool. Being on the school football team for one season doesn't make him cool. It was just luck.

"I've never seen anyone 'go after him', Tomoyo." I laughed. "Who's going after him?"

"There's Hina, Yuna, and Airi. That's three."

"Even if you are right, these girls are, well, not exactly 'wow'. They are all loners themselves."

"You said there is no one going after him."

"No, I said—and meant—there are no beautiful girls going after him."

"They are in their own way."

"Fine, if you want to be like that, I'll clarify: no stereotypically beautiful girl would go for a loner like him."

She smirked. "I will prove you wrong again. Natsumi likes Li."

"Really? Natsumi?"

That did surprise me. Kojima Natsumi was pretty and smart. A person such as her—tall and slim, with piercing eyes and a great social personality—would not have a thing for the Loner who was plain, boring, and has no social skills whatsoever.

"You're making things up, Tomoyo."

"I'm not."

"You are. How about this: you go date this 'Li Syaoran' if you find him so great."

"I'm taken. I have Eriol."

I grimaced. "Sometimes, Tomoyo, you are impossibly annoying."

She shrugged and gave me a grin, before her attention moved elsewhere, in the direction of the classroom door which opened to the hallway beyond. "Hmm, that's very interesting…"

I saw nothing unusual or interesting out in the hallway. "What's interesting, Tomoyo?" She didn't reply and continued looking in that same direction for a while. I waited until she returned to me.

"Anyway, I know what would be fun, Sakura."

"Fun? What kind of fun?"

"How would you like to see a giant tomato?"

"A giant tomato? I'm not following."

Tomoyo leaned over to my table. The tone in her voice was with mischievousness as she reiterated, "Yeah, a giant tomato."

"A giant tomato, Tomoyo? What about the red thing?" Chiharu asked. She had returned and was pulling a chair over now. She sat down as Tomoyo explained.

"Well, Li's always by himself. Like you guys say, people don't notice him too much because Li is Li, right?"

"Oh I see now—a red tomato," Chiharu replied.

"No, I don't get it. What?" I said. Tomoyo explained:

"It's been a while since anyone has noticed Li, so when a pretty girl like Kinomoto Sakura notices him, he will be extremely happy! And then, once you notice him—"

"Hey. No. Not again—"

"No, it's good Sakura."

"I highly doubt it. Everything you two ask me to do is at my expense."

"Oh come on. Be a sport," Chiharu said. "I'd do it, but you're the prettier one."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, lies."

"No, you are better to do this because you'll be able to pull it off better," Tomoyo told.

"Whatever. So what is it that I'm better at pulling off than the two of you?—not that I'm agreeing to doing it."

"Oh it's great, and fun too. First you go over to Li and say you lost something under his table—an eraser. Once he goes to retrieve this imaginary eraser and returns back up, get on his lap."

"Ooh and you know what you should do next?" Chiharu chimed in. Her eyes gleamed. She demonstrated with her hand slowly sliding on her thigh as her lips formed a devilish smile. I watched it go higher and higher until she winked and her finger pointed to the 'No go zone'.

"Oh no. No way am I going to—"

I caught onto the volume of my voice as the class stared at me. I leaned in and resumed in a whisper.

"No way am I going to go near anyone's thing!—especially not _his_ thing!" I tried to control the disgusted feeling. "Euh, I am not feeling up the Loner."

"You are if you like Kansuke," Tomoyo said with a serious face.

I feel I am now a gullible person as these two evil girls had me seriously thinking of doing this prank for their entertainment. _Kansuke might get jealous. He did wink at me…_

"He will?" I asked them again for reassurance.

"Yeah. When he sees that Li has gotten the attention of one of his girls, he will notice. Don't think he won't," Tomoyo said.

'One of his girls', yeah, if I was in the picture, I was definitely only one in a sea of many. I looked in Kansuke's direction then at Tomoyo and Chiharu. They were both waiting. I still had my doubts, but I knew I desperately wanted to get his attention.

"Fine, I'll do it!"

11 December 2003


	3. Chapter 3

**Skin-deep  
****©2003, 2011 By Julia and Tania****  
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 03  
14 December 2003**

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******On the previous chapter: **Sakura, an 18-year-old prefect was persuaded by Tomoyo and Chiharu to play a trick on Syaoran—a guy Sakura refers to as the "Loner". She finds her friends' proposal outrageous, however once Tomoyo and Chiharu explains that this could get the attention of the most desired guy in all of the school, the guy which she liked so much (Ashida Kansuke), she agrees.

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_**Location:**__ Calculus class  
__**Time frame:**__ Fifth period  
__**Point of View: **__Syaoran_

The class was rowdy. They stood and sat everywhere, enjoying this downtime as Mr. Hisamatsu was late again. Indeed, it is sad to say it is a regular thing for Mr. Hisamatsu on a Friday. I used this time to go over my notes and read chapters in the textbook.

I felt eyes were looking at me. They peered from behind. I turned to the back of the room and indeed, pairs of eyes looked my way—three to be exact: those belonging to Kinomoto, Daidouji, and Mihara. When they found my gaze, they immediately snapped their eyes back to their desks below. The sight was curious, but I dismissed it and returned my attention back to my books.

I was taken away from them again as Kojima called me. She sat a seat diagonal to mine at the front of the class. I turned to her.

"How was your lunchtime?"

Kojima Natsumi, she was one of the top students in this class. She was also a prefect, the Head of Culture. Though she occasionally socialised with the social elites, she was not one who had superiority over others. I find her good company.

"It was good, thank you."

"That's good."

I returned the gesture. "How was yours?"

"Really good. I'm full!" She rubbed her stomach and twisted and turned in her seat.

I chuckled. "That's good your stomach's happy. Did you go somewhere good?"

She stopped twisting and turning and she nodded with a wide smile on her lips. "We did! Tomoko (that was her best friend) and I went to the bakery down the street and got some pastries." Her eyes momentarily averted from mine. When they returned back to me, they looked timid. "I, um, actually bought quite a few." She reached for a brown bag on her desk. "Do you want this one? It's a chocolate swirl pastry."

I politely declined. "No thank you. You should save that for yourself for later."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, I'm sure, but thank you, Kojima."

She did not immediately retract the bag; she left it there for several moments longer before she smiled awkwardly then placed it back on her desk. When she came back around to me, her eyes looked upwards with a curious expression on her. I followed her gaze and found Kinomoto standing before me.

Kinomoto never came over to my desk, so I was also curious and surprised. She stood with both hands clasped behind her back with a smile that was particularly sugary.

"Can I… help you?"

"Yeah, you can, actually. I think my eraser rolled over to your desk." She pointed to the ground. "It's just by your left foot. Do you think you can get it for me?"

I shifted my legs to one side and looked there, but I found nothing. "I'm sorry. It's not there. Your eraser must have gone elsewhere."

She pointed again with certainty. "Oh no, I can see it. It's just there, in front of your left foot."

"I have already checked. You might like to look around the classroom."

"No, I saw you kick it under your chair. You have to move back to get it. It's just right there. Move your chair back and you'll find it."

Her words were odd. Her behaviour was also odd. I was becoming suspicious of her presence before me now. "So, I kicked your eraser under my chair? You want me to move it back to retrieve your eraser?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that would be great. It's green like the vinyl, so pull your chair right back so you can check everywhere, or else you just won't see it."

"Alright…" I knew I was going to regret doing this; I could tell by the detailed instructions she gave that something was up, but I went ahead and did it anyway. The rubber of the chair legs screeched as I pushed myself back to look for Kinomoto's eraser. Of course, I found nothing. I returned back up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't find your eraser anywh—"

I choked on my own breath when I was suddenly pushed against the backrest of my chair. I now could feel and see Kinomoto sitting on my lap, but it took me some time to actually get my head around that fact. I sat dazed as Kinomoto took a sniff of me.

"Mm, you smell good today." She then giggled. "What is it? It is really yummy." She lowered her head towards to me (to sniff me again, I assume); I held her back with hands to her shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

Kinomoto ignored my question; she crossed her legs and a seductive smile appeared on her lips. "You know, you're quite the quiet type, aren't you? I like quiet types, you know that?"

I'd allowed this to go on too far. No longer did I want to be a part of this—whatever this was.

"Please: can you remove yourself off of me?" When she didn't, I took it upon myself to get her off of me. I held her by the shoulders and began to stand up. She shrieked. I quickly sat back down and strengthened hold on her. She'd lost balance, my actions seemingly having been a little too quick.

"Sorry. Are you alright?"

For my inconsiderate action, her eyes looked at me like they were daggers. I just looked back and waited for her to speak. They softened and just like that, she was pleasant again. A sugary smile appeared on her lips.

"No problem. Thanks for catching me. You are so fast."

"It was nothing…" I squared my eyes on her. "Kinomoto, if you need something, please ask me whilst you're standing than on me, in a more appropriate manner?"

She was about to respond when her attention was taken away by something behind me. Hurt suddenly appeared in her eyes. I called to her.

"Hey…" Her attention was slow coming to me. "Are you alright?"

Her attention didn't stay long as it went behind me again. I listened; there was loud chatter from my classmates, but nothing that really stood out. I looked to Kojima to see if she could provide me a clue to what this Kinomoto was seeing. She pointed behind and told me it was Ashida Kansuke and Yamamoto Hisa. Kojima gave not much more than that, but I didn't need any more information to now understand the situation: this was a show for that cocksure loser.

I gave Kinomoto a tap on the arm to return her to me. Her head spun sharply to me, the ends of a lock of hair brushed past my face. I found fury in her eyes; I backed off a bit; that look was a little frightening to say the least. After a while, she calmed, no longer looking angry, but drowned in defeat; her eyes were looking down and her fingers fidgeted with the collar of my shirt.

I was not pleased that she had disturbed me and placed many nosey faces upon me, but the sight of her looking defeated and sad, I found compassion for her. I extended her a kind smile.

"You look disappointed, what's wrong? What's happening back there?"

She lifted her head up to look up at me and for the first time, I saw kindness in her eyes. I felt she was about to explain, but then something that had gone through her mind changed her mind. Her eyes were now filled with a sense of determination.

"Do you want to go out with me? I'm free tonight if you are?"

I was confused. "Go out?"

The flirtatiousness returned in her tone and body language. She moved her face until it was only inches from mine and the seductive smile returned back on her lips. "Yeah, you… and me."

I now wanted to tell Kinomoto to stop this because she was only making herself look like a fool, but I didn't know if my advice would be appreciated—and if I dared to try, how I would say it. I know Ashida enough to say jealousy rarely takes hold of him when he was a womaniser who never stuck with just one. Try as she may, she would never gain anything fruitful out of this.

The time it took me to respond had allowed Kinomoto to change her mind and move on. "Actually, never mind. I wasn't serious. I have a question, though."

I went to ask "What is it?" but when she spoke over me mid-sentence, I realised she was regurgitating speech she'd most probably rehearsed.

"You know, I was wondering, do you work out?" The hand that was at the collar of my shirt moved to rest on my left thigh. "Mmm, you do work out a lot, don't you? Feels strong there (she winked). I think your physique is better than the school's top athlete (she squeezed my thigh). Ooh, it is." Her eyes momentarily flicked up over my head (to Ashida again, I presume), before it came back to drill into mine. For a moment, I became lost in her green eyes, until I was alerted to look at what was happening below. Her hand was slowly travelling up. I was slow to understand her actions, but when the hand began to move further into the area of my inner thigh, alarms went off and I understood.

I immediately slapped a hand on top of her travelling hand before it could get any farther than it had already gone. Once I'd gotten her to stop and had the time to think, I became amused.

This was her ultimate goal. I applaud her for the guts to attempt this—and in front of thirty other people, yes, she was brave. However, did she really believe she could succeed—that I would let her hand reach its destination without a protest coming from me? She may call me a loner—and yes I may exude qualities of a loner—but I was not so lonely that I would be spellbound by her beauty and seduction. Hard as it was for her to believe, I was not that lonely. So long as Mother has a way to contact me, I am never truly alone.

I asked Kinomoto what her hand was doing. She struggled with her answer.

"What was my hand doing? Oh, I was… What do you mean?"

I thought she would have at least thought up of a backup response if things didn't go well. I decided I was going to have a little fun of my own.

"Do you not have control over your right hand? It was doing very odd things, wasn't it?"

She shook her head rapidly. "No! I have… control… It wasn't doing anything—I was… looking for your cell phone! You always pull it out and from afar it looks really pretty, that's all. I wanted to see your phone."

This Kinomoto was not only amusing, but quick on her feet. "Is that so? Well, it's not 'there'. You are several inches too much to the left. Are you sure you weren't going for something else?"

Her eyes were wide. "Yeah!"

I could make her squirm further, but I decided to stop. She looked like she could burst at any moment now. If I pushed her more, she might want to decimate me.

I smiled. "I see. I will get my phone out for you to see, if you wish." I waited as she thought. After a couple of moments, she nodded. "Alright, hold on."

I held onto Kinomoto tighter to keep her from slipping off. She withdrew from the touch, but otherwise remained in my hold. I reached into my right trouser pocket and got my phone out. I flipped the top open then handed it to Kinomoto.

She only pushed a button here and opened up a thing there, but slowly I saw her become intrigued with the device, going into more things and playing with it more. I watched her with interest.

I felt my legs start to falter. Though Kinomoto was not the least bit heavy, my legs were beginning to tire from supporting her weight for so long. Fortunately, Mr. Hisamatsu entered at this moment and he saved me from telling Kinomoto to get off me again. This side of Kinomoto was much more pleasant than the popular-girl counterpart.

Mr. Hisamatsu's attention came our way. "Students, leave that sort of thing outside of my class, please." He turned to the rest of the class. "Everyone, be seated. I'm sorry for the lateness. Let's quickly get started to make up time."

At the announcement, Kinomoto abruptly jumped off and directed me an icy glare. She extended my phone towards me. "Here: your cell phone."

14 December 2003


	4. Chapter 4

**Skin-deep  
****©2004, 2008, 2011, By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 04  
01 January 2004**

* * *

**On the previous chapter: **Sakura executed her performance to seduce Syaoran but it didn't go so well. His quick interjection saw her needing to make a story about wanting to see his cell phone as her reason for the unexpected visit. The game was lost for Sakura.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Calculus class  
__**Time frame:**__ Fifth period  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

"The question asks you to find the angle the path of the ball makes with the horizontal plane after six seconds. So, what you need to do is pick out the information…"

I looked up to see Mr. Hisamatsu circling a few equations. I sighed, not understanding what he circled and why he circled what he did.

"Differentiate this here and we get: d x over d t equals…"

I sighed again. My mind was differentiating. I wished I had transferred out of this class when I had the chance to. This subject was beyond me: the calculations, the formulas, the questions—everything about Calculus was confusing and infuriating. I only took up Calculus because I didn't know what else to choose and my friends chose it. I believe I am a goner and I'd have to accept that maybe I won't ever get this subject.

I shook that thought off—_No! I was not going to quit. Calculus was not going to defeat me!_ I focused on the instructions Mr. Hisamatsu was giving and attempted to understand what was on the board.

Mr. Hisamatsu was speaking and writing too fast. He advanced onto the next line when I was still trying to jot down and understand the previous line. I now sigh. I think I had been too ambitious to believe I could do this and I was stupid to go against transferring out of this class when I had the chance to. Learning French or Chinese would probably be easier than trying to understand how to differentiate a line of letters and numbers to come out to some different line of letters and numbers. I rubbed my temple hard and choked the pen in my hand.

I was then caught by the sight of Kansuke in the middle of the room, poking the girl beside him at her waist. She playfully returned it. The annoyance I had suppressed since the beginning of the class returned.

This girl, she was known as Hisa or as I liked to call her, Witch. She had only been at this school for a few months, transferred from another school because her father got a new job in the city. I thought she was quite nice at first. I remember her approaching me after Homeroom, asking me to help get her to Geography class on her first day. I thought we gelled well and I was her so-called first friend. Then she became an ex-friend when she got more familiar with the school and befriended a lot of the guys in our group. From that point onwards, she decided she didn't need me anymore with—what?—her three female posses and attention from a few of the cool guys. The rest of the school thought she was a Witch like I did.

Sadly, she'd gotten the attention of the hottest guy in the school, too. It took me almost a year to get Kansuke to just say hi and notice me (somewhat notice me), and then another few months to get his phone number (which I rarely use since I was too scared to text him from fear he'd not reply or answer if I called), but the Witch, she got him to smile and laugh, and play pokes with her in class. She probably got his home phone number, too! I say, it was unfair! She needed to stop casting spells on my guy and back off!

"Miss Kinomoto, is there a problem back there?" Mr. Hisamatsu said.

I straightened in my seat, realising I had growled aloud and not in my head. I immediately feared Mr. Hisamatsu might make me do an entire calculus problem in front of the class—as he had done so in the past to others who disrupted his class. Mr. Hisamatsu was an easy-going teacher, but sometimes he could be extremely strict and enforced orderly behaviour and punctuality scarily. Yeah, doing an entire calculus problem in front of the entire class was scary for me because I was that bad at Calculus.

"No, Mr. Hisamatsu. I'm sorry for disrupting the class."

"If you do need help, ask. Don't groan. Do you need help?"

"No, I'm fine. I don't need help."

He looked at me one last time before he turned back to the whiteboard and resumed solving the Calculus problem at hand. There were some looks my way and a few chatters and giggling. I ignored them all. I decided I needed to leave these thoughts to after school.

I looked at the whiteboard and found a board and a half filled. I began jotting it all down without trying to understand it. I was going to study it later and beg my friends to spend _a lot_ of time helping me understand it. Otherwise, I definitely had no chance with this damn awful subject.

I had almost finished copying everything down when the Loner pointed out to Mr. Hisamatsu that a part in the solution was wrong. I tried to follow the Loner's explanation, but I couldn't understand his reasoning. Mr. Hisamatsu stood with his forefinger and thumb at his chin. He looked over his work for a while. He then nodded.

"I see it now. You're right, Mr. Li. Good work." Mr. Hisamatsu went to correct the mistake.

After that, the Loner sat with his back against his chair, looking proud. I rolled my eyes: _Mr. I'm-so-smart, I'm-so-calm. Mr. It's-not-there! Annoying and arrogant! And most definitely gross!_ I looked to the hand that almost touched him: _I have to remember to take a visit to the girl's washroom and wash my hands off of his microbes thoroughly._

I went back to writing, crossing out the mistakes then jotted the corrections down.

Time had flown by me in the last half an hour as the bell sounded. I sped up my writing as the class began packing up and Mr. Hisamatsu addressed the class.

"Okay. We did a lot of work today. If you haven't finished the exercises set out for today, finish them for homework and we'll go over anything you had troubles with on Monday. Also, I'll be discussing about the upcoming test next week."

Groans and moans came from me and the class.

"Moan all you like, tests let you know how well you understand the material. Those who borrowed a textbook from me, please return them to the shelf at the front. Alright, that's it. Have a good weekend, all!"

Some people were filing out of the classroom as I tried to finish off the last line. Another time, I would have told them to get out of the way, but this was my last class for the day, so I waited until I could see. Once I finished copying all the work down, I returned the textbook I borrowed back to the bookshelf at the front then came back to my desk and packed up my gear, ready to go home.

Tomoyo and Chiharu had finished packing and stood at my desk. They helped me along, handing me my gear to put into my tote bag. Upon seeing Kansuke leave with Hisa by his side, I turned to my friends and glared at them.

"What?" Chiharu said.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" I said.

"Why do you look like you want to kill us?"

"Why would I not want to? Remember, the idea you guys suggested—the one that you said will totally work, but didn't?"

Tomoyo shrugged and tried to look innocent. "I guess I miscalculated. I really thought it would get Ashida to react. Who knew Ashida wouldn't react."

Sourness streamed through every part of me. "Yeah, okay, right, I totally believe you guys didn't have one ounce of doubt that it wouldn't work." I shook my head. "I don't know why I listen to you two. Look at how he's with that Witch. What a total waste of effort! The only thing your idea got me was the Loner's disgusting microbes all over my hands!" I held my hand out and placed it in the faces of both of my friends, trying to nauseate them. Their heads remained solid in their unmoving positions. I returned my hands back to my side then rolled my eyes at them. "You guys are stubborn. Euh! Totally disgusting. Don't ever get me to do something so gross again!"

"You are being overly-dramatic, Sakura," Tomoyo said. "This isn't a waste of effort, you know. You benefited from this. Now you have knowledge that 'the Loner' doesn't do anything, so onto the next, right?"

"No, not 'onto the next', Tomoyo. If you guys want to have some fun, let one of you—or both—provide the entertainment. Plain evil you guys are. And no—I am _not_ being overly-dramatic!"

"Hey, we like to think of what we do as help than evil," Chiharu corrected me.

I rolled my eyes.

Tomoyo copied me and rolled her eyes bigger in sarcasm before she relented. "Okay, how's this, then, Sakura? There is a party on tonight. Kansuke is going to be there—or when he hears about it, he will be there. We'll prove to you we won't do anything. Come to it and we'll let you see that we are sorry and both of us will let you get his attention on your own."

Chiharu had a surprised expression. I was surprised, too, unaware that there was a party going on.

"A party?—where and whose?" I asked.

"Eriol's. I just got the message before class ended. He wanted to hold one all of a sudden. You guys keen to come?"

"Definitely!" Chiharu said.

"Yeah, totally!" I said.

Tomoyo clapped her hands together. "Great! And to say how sorry I am—how truly sorry we are (looking at Chiharu as she said that)—I'm going to call Ashida to give us girls a ride. Eriol will be getting things jazzed up, so he can't take us there. Let's walk. I'll call outside."

We walked out to the hallway then stopped by some lockers. Tomoyo took her phone out and dialled his number, then waited. She poked her tongue out at me when she found my eyes staring at her. I was impatient and even though I wasn't the one making the call, I was nervous. I straightened when Tomoyo spoke.

"Ashida, Daidouji here. Tonight, you know Eriol's holding a party, right? You are going? Good. Are you taking anyone to the party?" Her brows creased. "Oh, you are? Oh okay, well then, do you by any chance have room for one more? I have a friend who doesn't have a ride."

I swiped a hand across Tomoyo's shoulder. She, in turn, swiped it away and mouthed, "Don't worry. It's okay." Her attention then snapped back to the phone.

"Oh well, there are three of us: Sakura, Chiharu, and me."

I stopped protesting and allowed her to speak to Kansuke in peace, hopeful again. It was a while before Tomoyo spoke.

"Oh, that's great then! Yeah, I'll text you all the details. Thank you, Ashida. You are very sweet. I'll get off now and text you the details. Alright, bye."

The call ended and she looked at me with a grin.

"A ride from your Kansuke. Cool, huh?"

I jumped in joy. "Yeah!"

"Am I back in your good books? Oh and Chiharu, too? This is making up from both of us for being—as you say—evil."

"Thanks, Tomoyo," Chiharu said.

"Yeah, totally! I can't wait! Oh my gosh! I gotta go home and figure out what I'm going to wear!"

Chiharu placed a hand on my back and smirked. "Make sure it's something hot and revealing. Show him your stuff and make him drool!"

"Chiharu, you think too much like a pervert. Besides, who said I wasn't going to?—make him drool, that is. I'm just going to make him drool in a classy way and _not_ like the way you suggested."

"Okay, well, classy, revealing—just dress hot! You want to get his eyes looking you up and down the whole night—and then some more." Chiharu wiggled her eyebrows.

"Don't you worry! I have many outfits to make any guy drool!"

Chiharu laughed. "Confidence, that's right. Anyway, must get to class. Later girls!"

"Yeah, me too," Tomoyo said. "I'll text you both all the details when I get them. See you this evening for some Friday night fun!"

Tomoyo and Chiharu headed to their classes while I made a stop to the girl's toilets to wash my hands off. When I came back out into the hallway, in my haste and excitement to get home, I collided into the person whose microbes I'd just washed off.

"Sorry," the Loner said with his hands held up.

I've had enough of him for today. I walked straight past him without a reply.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Outside the residence of the Kinomoto's  
__**Time frame:**__ Friday evening  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

Tomoyo called me at home around five in the evening. She told me Chiharu was going to take a ride with Takashi while two of my other friends, Rika and Naoko, were coming in our ride. She also told me that Kansuke will be picking each of us at our places so he will be at my place around seven-thirty.

When Tomoyo told me Rika and Naoko were coming out tonight, I was surprised. Though we go to the same school, it has been so long since I've hung out with them. When we were still a group, Rika always liked to stay at home to watch rented movies. She only went out to go hang out with her boyfriend. Naoko, she was always indoors, liking to hang out in libraries with her head in books. I loved to party and be sociable, they didn't like to go to parties much and were very select with who they socialised with. Staying at home watching rented movies or going to the library aren't exactly what I call fun, so with time we slowly drifted apart. It means seeing them at this party would be the first time we've hung out for years! Actually, it would be the first time the two went to a cool person's party as well.

I was beginning to wonder where they were after standing twenty minutes by my fence with no sign of them. I sent a message to Tomoyo ten minutes ago and she told me that they'd be a little late. I looked at my phone again: a minute had passed from the last time I checked.

A click and a creak of a door came from behind me. My surroundings brightened as I turned around to see Dad walk down the driveway and come to me.

"Sakura, why don't you wait inside? They will come to the house and ring the doorbell when they arrive. You will catch a cold out here. Come inside."

"I'm not that cold. I'll be fine."

"Standing out here in the dark is unsafe."

This street I lived on, it was a quiet neighbourhood and everyone who lived here were neighbourly and friendly. The streets were well-illuminated and clean and with this a side street from the main road, not many walked or drove past here. It wasn't at all dangerous; quite safe in my opinion; not as dangerous as Dad had made it sound. Also, I'd not seen any strangers pass by in the time I had been out here.

"I know they will, Dad. I'll continue to wait out here, if that's okay. I'll come inside if I don't see anyone soon. I'm sure they will be here soon, though."

He hesitated to speak as a troubled brow and depressed lips formed on his face. He then nodded. "Alright, I will return in five minutes to call you back in if they don't arrive by then." I nodded. Dad went back inside.

My dad, a University professor, was a busy dad, but he was a great dad who did worry about me a little too much. My mum passed away when I was very little and my older brother, Touya, he moved out two summers ago to an apartment closer to his place of study, so now it was just Dad and me living in this modest family home of ours and he has become a little more edgy about things. "You are very special to me. I worry because I care and love you very much," he has told me. I understood that, but I told him that I was very responsible and had a good sense of judging right from wrong.

Dad was reluctant to let me go to tonight's party, but I reminded him what I told him once before. He eventually let me, but asked that I was back by ten. I negotiated and asked for midnight. It was still too late for him, but I convinced him that I would return at that specific time, especially when I had planned for myself to study Calculus after I came back. It was not a lie to get Dad to agree, by the way. The work we did this afternoon did worry me, with a test coming up and all, so it was all true. How much I'd do or how well I'd concentrate was undetermined.

The lamp post directly across from me on the other side of the street provided me entertainment for a couple of moments, scrolling my eyes up and down its length a few times, before my mind drifted off to thoughts of the party.

Tomoyo told me Eriol had invited around fifty plus people with the freedom to invite more, so the party was going to be a huge one. His place could fit a hundred people easily, too, when the place was an old English manor. It had eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a humungous kitchen, and three living rooms.

I am never too exact with the owner of this manor—whether it was his or someone else's in his family. He actually never made it clear to me if it belonged to anyone else but him, so whenever I told people about his gigantic house, I say it is his. Some people have asked me how he could own such a place at his age, I just shrug and say I didn't know. Eriol was a really good friend of mine, but some things about him were a mystery. I'm sure Tomoyo knows the answer to this and a lot of other facts about him, but I never tried asking her for a bio of him, thinking that she'd probably keep answers to questions about Eriol a secret for him. That particular fact wasn't particularly important to me, anyway. I know Eriol's a nice guy, from England, has the coolest girlfriend ever, and is very kind and generous to us all. Those things are all I needed to know about Hiiragizawa Eriol. And as long as I got to use his pool during hot summer days and go through his huge pantry and fridge of food when I was over, I'm happy (yes, he had a pool and a huge pantry and fridge)!

A couple of short honks jolted me out of my thoughts. A couple of bright headlights shone directly into my eyes. I blocked the unbearable brightness with my arms as I looked in the direction where the headlights came from. It took moments for my eyes to adjust, but when I did, I found Kansuke's car approaching the side kerb. The car stopped in front of me and the passenger door opened. Tomoyo hopped out.

"Sakura, sorry we're late."

The back window rolled down. Two heads stuck out. It was Naoko's in the front, and behind her, was Rika.

"Hey, Sakura. I had trouble finding something good to wear to the party. Sorry for making you wait," Naoko said.

"It's okay," I said.

"Hey, Sakura. Good to see you again!" Rika said.

"Mm, long time no see. What made you both decide to come out? I remember you guys not liking these sorts of things."

"Yeah, well, Tomoyo told us that it's been a while and it's true… I thought it would be good to catch up, so I thought: okay, why not. Well, that's me…" Naoko said.

Rika nodded. "Yeah, me too. It's been a while and Tomoyo made it sound fun!"

Yeah, it was fun, but I don't know if their meaning of fun was the same as ours. I don't know if Tomoyo explained fully what our parties were usually like. It wasn't going to be quiet orderly chit-chat around the coffee table like a girl's sleepover, eating ice cream and junk food, talking about guys each of us liked. There were going to be actual guys—hot, popular guys, and crazy fun. I did a quick scan on both their outfits and it was a little off. Naoko had a dress in moss-green and brown shapes with a pair of dark-coloured pants underneath the dress. Rika was a little more stylish with a white top and a dark-coloured long skirt. If she'd swapped that long skirt to a pair of blue jeans or a mini skirt, she would look perfect for the party.

I smiled. "Oh okay, well, it's definitely great to catch up with you guys. Cool, let's get going, shall we? I'm going to hop into where you are, Naoko." She slid over one seat as I reached for the door handle to get in the car, but Tomoyo placed a hand between.

"Wait, Sakura. I'm moving to the back. You take my seat at the front with Ashida." She winked at me.

I thought I told her no more little plans, but here she was again doing something. I glared at her, but she ignored it and took my seat at the back. Kansuke's handsome face then appeared before me as I turned back.

"Hey, Gorgeous. Hop in." He then winked at me. Words would not come out of me even when responses ran through my head. I only nodded and hopped in.

I struggled with my seatbelt as my hands were shaky. I mistook his arm that eventually passed me to go across the back of my seat and jammed the clip into the area between my thumb and forefinger. The pain lasted a couple of seconds before it dissipated.

"Whoops, huh?"

Kansuke had been watching me all that time? Internally, I scolded myself for being so stupid and clumsy in front of him. I then told myself to calm down and focus on the task: buckle to clip. This time it clicked.

I sheepishly smiled at Kansuke. "I'm done."

"No rush." He flashed me a smile that turned me hot. Thank goodness it was dark or else he'd probably see my face coloured with red. He turned his attention to the girls at the back. "Alright, beautiful ladies: I'm running low on gas. You all don't mind a pit stop at the gas station for a fill?"

Everyone had no objections. We rocketed off.

The gas station was only a short distance's drive from my house. For that amount of time, I was stiff and self-conscious. When he complimented me on my outfit (a cyan backless top, jacket, and white skirt), I stuttered and replied with stupid things like where I bought them from and how I got them on sale. When we reached the gas station and Kansuke got out of the car to fill his tank with gas, I cursed at myself for being such a weirdo.

Tomoyo laughed at me for it. "You should stop being so nervous around him, Sakura. It's not like you're a stranger to him! You hang around him five days a week at school, morning tea and lunch. He knows you and you know him very well."

"I know, but this is the first time we're hanging out outside of school and in his car. He probably thinks I'm a retard."

"He doesn't think that! Why are you always saying things like that? It's all in your head. Relax!"

Rika joined in. "You like him a lot, Sakura?"

Tomoyo interjected and answered for me. "Yeah, she is head over heels for him, but she won't let him know, even when opportunities pop up and allow her to give him hints."

"You are being unfair, Tomoyo. He's Kansuke, the most popular and hottest guy in the school. It's not that easy to say, 'I like you. I want you to be my boyfriend,' Right, Rika, Naoko?" I said. They agreed with me with a nod, but Tomoyo still had something to say about that.

"That's true, he's very popular, but Sakura, you are also very popular and definitely the prettiest and cutest girl in our school, so it should be easy."

The compliment was kind, but I shook my head. "It's not easy at all."

Rika entered. "Um, well, for what it's worth, I did see him look your way a couple of times when you weren't watching, so he probably, maybe, likes you, too, Sakura."

"You think? Maybe he was looking at the traffic on my side."

She took some moments to think. "No… I'm sure it was because of you."

Rika's observation had me wondering if it was true or if she had just sugar-coated it to make me feel better. I took her word for what it was.

"I hope so then, because I dressed up especially for him."

"Oh yeah: and that, too! He did compliment you earlier. I remember he did this." Rika sat up straight then held two of her hands out to grip onto an imaginary steering wheel. She turned left to eye Naoko up and down. "You're looking good tonight."

The entire car was then quiet as Rika froze her actions before she wiggled her eyebrows up and down. That was when everyone but me burst into laughter. You see, I was much too worried about Kansuke seeing what was happening in here to laugh—funny as it was.

"Guys, shh... He's just outside," I said. They all went into silent laughter, hands over their mouths like three mice nibbling on cheese. "Guys, come on. What if he comes back in and asks what was going on in here?"

"Don't worry! We'll just say Rika had told a funny joke. We'll make one up," Tomoyo said. "Besides, look: he didn't notice. He's still looking out."

I looked out the window and found him looking at the meter.

"Fortunately!" I said.

"Yes, so no need to be alarmed," Tomoyo said.

Then there was a rattle of metal and then a clank. I lowered my head and looked out the side window on Rika's side. Kansuke was putting the pump back. He began heading into the station.

I saw an opportunity, but couldn't decide if I dared to go get out of this car and make a run to catch up to him. A moment more, I decided I would head out and if he asked why, I'd tell him I wanted to get some snacks and things for the party. I quickly unbuckled myself and turned to my friends.

"Hey, guys: I'm going inside. Do you guys want anything? My treat."

"There'll be heaps of snacks and drinks at the party, Sakura," Tomoyo said.

"I know. I just feel like something now to snack on."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm fine." The others nodded to Tomoyo's response as well.

I hurried out of the car. By the time I caught up with Kansuke, he was just outside the door. Kansuke turned around—a little shocked from my sudden arrival. He then gave me one of those smiles that made me melt.

"Hey, where did you come from?"

I pointed over my shoulder. "From back there. I got a little peckish, so I want to get something from inside."

"Alright, let's go in and feed you, Gorgeous."

I told myself: _I shouldn't be so intimidated by him. Tomoyo is right. He is approachable!_ I linked my arm with his. When he didn't shrink or move away, I pulled him closer and dragged him through the door. "Let's go!"

I had seen the long line at the service counter before we headed in. I told Kansuke I would be quick. He told me not to worry and take my time because he'd wait in line whilst I looked around. I went fast anyway because the faster I went, the longer I could stand next to Kansuke and admire him.

I had gone into the drinks section to grab an eighteen pack of beer before I headed over to the confectionery section to choose a bag of fruit chews. The line had moved quite fast. By the time I returned, we were fourth in line.

"Hey, I've finished choosing."

Kansuke looked at my choices. "Beer and candy. Nice."

"Yeah."

Kansuke pointed to the items. "Do you want me to help you pay for those or are you fine with that?"

I momentarily stared at him, not understanding for a moment. "Pay?—Oh no, it's okay, Kansuke. I'll pay for them, myself."

He extended me a huge smile and winked. "Your wish is my command. If that's what the lady desire, then the lady gets."

"Mm, yeah, no problem. I'll pay for them myself."

I then smiled. It was a strange, but good feeling to be standing here with him and being so gentlemanly. There was none of his friends to interrupt the moment, too; and no Hisa. It was just him and me. I looked up at him and wondered what it was like to be called his girlfriend. I then saw the huge gap between Kansuke and me. I inched closer till I felt his arm touch mine.

I started to find it difficult to wait in line after a while. My arms were feeling tired from holding the pack of eighteen beers. I didn't know how much longer I could hold this without screaming aloud for these people to hurry things along. The first person had taken five minutes to serve: along with gas, he ordered a couple coffees from the café adjacent. This current person would have not taken up so much time had the service guy not gotten the prices wrong for the bottles of drinks he bought. It didn't help the service guy go any faster when the customer wouldn't stop talking for one moment to let him think.

The service guy finally decided to ask for help. He looked out the window, tapped on it, then waved to someone outside. The person who had been at one of the bays filling an LPG cylinder nodded. I saw him quickly finish the job before he jogged his way in. When he got to the door and came through, my eyes widened. The guy was the Loner. I turned to Kansuke.

"Hey, Kansuke, look: that Loner works here."

Kansuke had been peering down at the magazines on the shelves below him. It look him a second more before he looked up to where I looked. "What was that, Gorgeous?"

"The Loner, look."

He snickered. "Guess the loser needs to earn a buck." He then returned to the magazines, apparently not as surprised as I was to find the Loner working here.

I tried to hide myself (yes, I know it seems a little silly to do so when eventually he'd see us up at the counter serving us), turning my face away from the Loner, but he did not see us when he dashed straight to the service counter and asked his colleague what the problem was. When he explained it, quickly the Loner went to work. A couple of moments later, everything was fixed and the customer left with everything in order.

I was glad of it. The edges of the pack of beer were now starting to dig into my bones. I heaved it up to settle it in a different way then used my left hip to support it. For now, that had relieved the ache on my right arm.

Seemingly, the Loner's colleague was a new worker as the Loner directed him to go help those patrons outside as he was going to take over to move things along. I was actually hoping the Loner would return to working outside and his colleague would serve us, so I didn't have to face him. Luck wasn't on my side, I guess.

A middle-aged man was next in line. After him, we were next. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were finally almost at the front.

I may have breathed a sigh of relief too soon when seemingly this next customer knew the Loner and small talk ensued.

"Hello, Mr. Li. A busy night for you, tonight, isn't it?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Yes, quite busy," the Loner said.

"People must be running out of gas at the same time. Number six, good man."

The Loner laughed. "Yes, they must be."

Huh, what a strange thing to hear. I've never heard the Loner laugh. He was always so serious and rigid at school and I was surprised to hear that he could actually laugh—even if it was one out of politeness.

The Loner punched some keypads on his register then spoke the amount. The middle-aged man swiped his cash card and punched in his pin number in the cash machine.

The machine took some time to process the transaction.

The Loner's expression was serious. His next words were spoken quietly. "Mr. Honda, have you had time to look over my resumé?"

"Oh, yes, I had told myself before coming in to talk to you about that. Short memory, I have."

The Loner gave a polite smile. "It's quite alright."

"Well, yes, your resumé is impressive. We're quite full with workers at the moment, so I don't have anything for you currently I'm afraid."

"Yes, I understand." The receipt extended fully from the machine. The Loner tore it off and handed it to the man. "Actually, I was looking for a little work experience whilst I worked here. Do you have anything in that way? I would love to assist your team whilst I learn from you. Payment is not necessary. I'm willing to work for free."

"How dedicated you are." The Loner smiled and bowed his head to the man's compliment. I was also impressed to hear he was willing to work with no pay. The man looked behind then back to the Loner. "Look, you seem like a very busy man right now, so how's this: I have an overnight job, tonight. Come over some time after work. There, I can see what you can do and we can further discuss things. How's that?"

The Loner's expression brightened. "Great! I should be able to come by at ten-thirty. Thank you for the opportunity."

"Excellent." He then turned around and looked at me before he turned back. "I will get out of the line now. These poor people have waited long enough." The Loner smiled and bowed. The man turned around and apologised for making us wait. I smiled and stepped aside to provide him room to pass.

The Loner looked up. The widening of his eyes and longer than usual stare on us told me he recognised us.

"Good evening. I'm sorry for the wait. How can I help you both?" he said.

Kansuke went ahead of me and leaned onto the counter, taking the space that I had intended use to put my items on. I held on a little longer. He called his number out. "Number ten."

The Loner looked at me and the things I held. "Will that be paid for altogether?"

"No, I'll be, um—" I heaved it up to relieve the ache in my arms and wrist, seemingly losing the power to hold them anymore. The force was a little too much for me when it came back down onto my arm. I winced in pain. The Loner saw my struggle and he rushed to my aid.

"Having some trouble there? Here, let me help you with that." He took the pack of beer out of my hands and excused himself from Kansuke to let him have some room for my items. I felt bad for getting in Kansuke's way and making him move.

"Sorry Kansuke. It was getting a little heavy."

"Hey, you should have told me you needed help holding it. I could've held it for you if you spoke up."

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't; just at the end, that's all. I was fine holding it myself."

There were no "It's alright, Gorgeous" or "No worries, Gorgeous" with one of Kansuke's trademark smiles when he spoke, and he sounded so mad. Annoyance towards the Loner rose in me. He didn't have to show Kansuke up and make an issue out of this by coming to help me—now Kansuke will have second thoughts about knowing me.

I directed the Loner a steely glare for that embarrassing moment. "I'll be paying separately, thanks."

The Loner nodded before he resumed processing Kansuke's transaction. He spoke the amount. Kansuke took his card out from his pocket. "Here: you can swipe it for me." And he tossed his card onto the counter with a bit of strength. My heart leapt momentarily when I thought it would move beyond the edge, but the Loner seemed to have good reflexes and stopped it dead in its tracks. He swiped it through the money machine.

"Nice catch," Kansuke complimented.

The Loner paid no attention to the compliment. He continued waiting for the machine to process the transaction. His eyes left the machine to look at me. I disliked it and I averted his gaze.

"Thanks, gas man," Kansuke said as the Loner handed him his receipt. He then smirked. "Looking good in that uniform." I giggled at his comment. I stopped when Kansuke tapped me on my shoulder with a neutral expression. "Don't take too long, alright? I'll wait in the car."

"Okay. I won't."

And then Kansuke left, leaving me alone with the Loner. I no longer smiled, giggled, or cared to be polite and kind as I had been when Kansuke was next to me to see me at my best. This was the Loner. I cared little what he thought of me.

"Will it be just those?" the Loner asked.

"Yes."

"May I ask for some sort of identification please?"

"I am of the legal drinking age. I turned eighteen in April."

"Yes. I still need to check. Please can you provide me identification?"

Why did the Loner have to be so infuriating even outside of school? My bag was full of stuff. I didn't want to go digging through all of it to find my I.D. card. Why did he have to be such an uptight fun-hater?

I reached in my bag, rummaged past some receipts, keys, creams, mascara, and lip gloss, before I found some cards and searched for my I.D. card. It was even more of a nuisance to have to look through and check which one was my I.D. card when my bag wouldn't hold the things inside without one threaten to pop out. When I finally found it, I slapped it on the counter for the Loner to check for himself that I was indeed the legal drinking age.

He took it from my hand and began checking the details of my card. He was very thorough, looking at my I.D. card then at me for a very long time. It wasn't as if he didn't know me, so it shouldn't be that hard to see that I was the person on the photo. Surely it cannot possibly be because he was finding it difficult to calculate that I was of the legal drinking age?—what, he couldn't with his superior maths skills?

He finally gave me my I.D. card back. I took my anger out on the cash machine; I clenched a jaw for its slowness in processing things. The Loner used the time to ask me a question.

"You look like you're ready for a night out. Do you have a party to go to somewhere?"

His niceness was late and unwanted. I let his comment and smile go unanswered. After a moment, the receipt finally extended fully and he handed it to me.

"Okay, well, here you are. Have a good night, then."

Again, I left him without speaking a word.

It took another twenty minutes before we finally got to the party. When one of the party goers opened the door, loud music blasted out and I looked in to see the place packed. Kansuke entered and he was immediately greeted by a large gathering of his friends. Tomoyo and I made our way in, but I halted when I saw Rika and Naoko stay standing outside the door.

"Guys, aren't you coming in?" I asked.

"There are quite a lot of people," Naoko said.

"And it's loud. I can barely hear myself speak."

"Yeah, it's a party—of course it's going to be loud and packed. If you are uncomfortable after a time, you can leave then, but you have to at least go in for a bit. Come on, guys. Let's go in and have some fun. I'll show you around."

Slowly, but surely, the both nodded and followed me in.

I took Rika and Naoko into the kitchen to first place my pack of beers and fruit chews on the food and drinks table then to grab my friend a cup of soda each (it was what they both requested).

I felt a tap on my shoulder as I poured. I turned to it and found one of Kansuke's friends and football team mate.

"Sakura: hey, Ashida said you were looking good tonight. He wasn't lying. You really are hot stuff, tonight! Go on the dance floor with me later, alright? Promise me."

I smiled widely. "Sure! You got it, but you have to come find me. If you don't, then no promises, okay?"

"Alright! Later, beautiful." He then exited the kitchen.

I smiled again to myself. I could tell tonight was going to be one hell of a fun and eventful night. It was already turning out to be one.

01 January 2004


	5. Chapter 5

**Skin-deep  
****©2004, 2011 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 05  
13 February 2004**

* * *

**On the previous chapter:** After being picked up by Kansuke, they (Sakura, Kansuke, Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko) head to the petrol station just before they head to the party, as they were low on fuel. As the girls waited for Kansuke to finish, Sakura reveals that cheerleading in one of Kansuke's soccer games was when she started to like Kansuke. When heading to pay for the petrol and to buy some things for the party, Syaoran is found to be working there. Little exchanged between the two as Sakura continues to find the guy she calls 'Loner' of little significance: he is someone who lives in the shadows. After the brief stop, Sakura and her friends continue to make their way to the party.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Hiiragizawa Eriol's residence, the party  
__**Time frame:**__ Friday evening  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

I weaved my way in and out of the people in the room. Taking a wild guess, I'd say there were well over a hundred people who had turned up for the event. A hundred plus people was a lot of people in my books. If it were held in my house, I don't think I'd be able to fit one hundred people. Even if I could, the party would be spread out between many rooms throughout the house. Eriol's though, he could host it all in the lounge if he wanted to.

In one corner, he had a very _techno_ entertainment system which looked like it cost a whole lot of money to buy. There was a flatscreen television, a couple of disc players, and a mini system. The mini system was where the hip dance music was blasting out from. He also had a couple of couches that looked very comfortable and appeared to be of leather—whether they were of genuine leather, I wasn't too sure. They were placed against a wall, surrounding a contemporary glass coffee table. I assume Eriol had created that setting for those who wanted to chill out… or make out as I was seeing a couple of people doing right now.

The walls were plain in a shade of blue, and the curtains were not too much different from the walls—slightly lighter in shade. They were drawn back against the doors which he had opened up to his guests a couple hours ago to allow access to the large backyard outside.

It was wise of him to do so, too. Outside at the moment, I could see quite a number of people yelling and screaming, dancing and jumping awkwardly, spraying each other with the liquid of their shaken up beer cans. People were seriously getting drunk now that the party was heading into its third hour. I do wonder what the place would look like tomorrow. It was probably going to be a jungle of litter, bottles, and a few passed out people, too. I could see a few around the room right now and one that was lying just at my feet.

Naoko and Rika had left an hour after we arrived. They told me that it was just not their scene. I respected that and said goodbye to them. Rika's boyfriend came to take the both of them home.

Carefully, I avoided the many people passed out on the floor as I continued through the lounge, attempting to make my way towards the kitchen for another refill of my cup. I had chosen to not drink too much, only three miniature cups so far (and they were barely a quarter full as well), so I was able to remember certain things—certain things being when I have my time with Kansuke. Yes, I still haven't had any time with him yet. If I were to keep my promise to Dad to return home by midnight, I had better do it quick. There was half an hour before midnight. I then thought: _An extra hour wouldn't be too much, would it? Maybe Dad wouldn't notice. It was only one hour more…_

"Hey, Sakura!"

I turned around to see who had called me, but I couldn't see where the voice had come from. There were many lava lamps around the place that provided the room enough illumination, but I still found it difficult to find people, especially when they were not in the immediate vicinity. I searched left and right, ahead and behind—still I couldn't see who it was.

"Over here!"

I turned in the direction of the call, behind me. I found waving hands. It was Chiharu and Tomoyo. I walked over to them.

"Hey guys," I bellowed over the noise and loud music.

Tomoyo leaned into my ear. "How are you enjoying things, Sakura?"

"This party totally kicks, Tomoyo! Eriol did a really great job!"

"Yeah, he did, didn't he?"

"Yeah—it's going to carry on way past midnight by the looks of things," Chiharu observed, sweeping her eyes around the place. Her bubbly facial cast then changed to support a raised brow and pursed lips as she looked to the guy on the ground below her completely wasted. "For some, the night has already ended."

"Yeah, I saw many like him on the ground snoozing, too. What is Eriol going to do about them?"

"I suppose he'll leave them there." Tomoyo said. "Or maybe we could put them in the backyard for the night and let the sprinklers wake them up tomorrow, just for laughs."

"Well, there's an idea!" Chiharu said.

"He should!" I said. "Why not? Suggest it to him and then you can film their reactions, post the—"

Pain went through the right arm. I rubbed it as I snapped my head to my right arm.

"Are you okay?" Tomoyo said.

I nodded then looked around to find the offending object that had hit me. Below my feet, I found it: an unopened beer can. I then searched around to look for the drunken idiot who had thrown it at me and give this person a piece of my mind. I didn't find the culprit. I tended my arm.

"Some people need to have time-out!" I said.

"Mm. Sorry about that, Sakura. If I find out who it is, I'll throw one into their arm," Tomoyo said.

"Mm, and then I'll get them to stand in the corner and if that person moves, I'll splash them with buckets of water."

"Ooh, we'll go with your idea, Chiharu. Sounds like fun!" Tomoyo said.

"Thanks, guys, but it's okay. It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it."

"I know; still not nice. We'll definitely do it if we find out who that was." I just nodded. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Hisa that did it. She is such a Witch.

I caught onto a spot of light moving about in the air. It was the reflection of Eriol's glasses and he was tiptoeing slowly up to Tomoyo from behind. He placed a forefinger to his lips and told me to keep quiet. I obliged with a discreet nod and returned back to my friends whilst he approached Tomoyo, almost ready to prance. Tomoyo, unaware of what was to come, asked me a question.

"So, Sakura, have you had a chance to see Ashida—?"

Tomoyo screamed and tried to pry the hands that slapped around her waist, but they were too strong. She turned around. When she found Eriol, she slapped him across his left arm.

"Eriol—you sneaky little thing! Don't ever do that! You gave me a huge fright!"

I couldn't control myself from laughing.

"Do what?" Eriol asked. "I'm not allowed to…" Eriol tightened his wrap around her waist. "…hug you? Or… kiss you?" He planted three quick successive kisses, each one getting closer to her lips. He then twisted his body around to plant one directly onto her lips.

Tomoyo spun around in his arms and faced him. "Have you had too much to drink?"

"No my Little Petal…" From that answer, I knew Eriol was slightly out of it. Then he defended himself with an answer even more typical of a drunk. "I'm the host, hosts don't get drunk."

"Eriol, that makes no sense." She turned her attention back to me. Her frown disappeared as she returned to cheer as Eriol's head lay on Tomoyo's shoulder with a wide grin. "Anyway, are things looking up on the horizon between you and Kansuke, Sakura?"

I frowned at having no good news to share with my friends. There were a few times I found him, but he was always surrounded by people. He was just so popular; he was always busy with people.

"No…"

"You were looking forward to spending some time with him here, weren't you, Sakura?"

Chiharu had asked me that. Out of the three of us, I was the only one who hadn't found my guy. I had a few boyfriends throughout the years, but they never lasted too long or as long as my friends'. Tomoyo had Eriol and they've been going for two years; and Chiharu had Takashi (Takashi was a friend who can be a handful sometimes because he liked to kid a little too much, but he was sweet and was very good to Chiharu), they were boyfriend and girlfriend since childhood, so they were the crème de la crème of all couples. I did wish I had someone as good or half as good as the guys my friends found. It would be nice to know that there was someone I could call my boyfriend and experience all the things that came with having a boyfriend—I've never even had a boyfriend that lasted to celebrate the most romantic day of the year with—but it didn't mean that I wouldn't find one in the near future. For all I know, Kansuke could be that someone.

"Yeah, but I don't really need to spend tonight with him to enjoy myself…" Tomoyo and Chiharu slumped down to the expression I hated to see. "Don't give me pity, guys. I'm fine. Really, I'm not worried about it, so you shouldn't either. I'm having a lot of fun."

My friends continued to give me that charity of compassion I didn't want. Sometimes, I don't think they even know me well enough to realise what I was saying was the truth. Yeah, by now, I had expected something cool to happen with Kansuke and me, I was a little sad that I had not once bumped into him after we arrived over three hours ago, but it didn't mean the party stop being fun just because I didn't get to see him. Besides, the party wasn't over. I still had time.

I made the decision to take myself away from their negative attitude. "Look, I'm going to get a drink. I'll talk to you guys later."

I went to get my drink. I got into the kitchen and headed for the countertop of alcoholic drinks. A lot of it was gone now compared to the last time I came back for a refill. There were only several bottles of ginger ale and liquor left, a couple of cans of beer, and the box of cider—pretty much empty too. As I headed for the tap to the box of cider, I heard giggles come from a corner. Out of curiosity, I pivoted around slightly to see who it was. I was shocked when I saw that it was Kansuke and Hisa.

Kansuke was right up against her: his right hand which held a beer bottle leaned against the wall, while the other lingered on top of her left shoulder, his fingers playing with the spaghetti strap of her top. Hisa was giggling.

Kansuke couldn't get enough of her, like she was irresistible fruit. Why did it have to affect me like this was the first time I had seen him with her? I've seen him like this with other girl, too.

My mind just spun with shock, frustration, anger, sadness, hurt, disappointment, jealousy—every unpleasant feeling was rising up so fast, I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, staring at it all—at how he was completely focused on her, like there was nothing else more interesting than her.

I feel like a fool to believe something would happen between him and me tonight. I blame my optimistic self. Whenever I see something good happen, I always think it's a sign that more of the good is to come, so I envision that that's what would come. I never learn that it's not always the case and that sometimes my hope gets sliced into nothingness with only disappointment there for me to feel.

I truly thought something would happen between Kansuke and me. He seemed into me tonight—more so than usual, too: he was nice to me in the car; complimented me; called me Gorgeous; and one of his friend confirmed that Kansuke had liked the look of me tonight—so much so that he said I was hot. So, what went wrong? Why was I feeling sad and depressed instead of happiness and joy?

I couldn't control it, my optimism. Every time, I would hope and expect, expect something to arise—and it would not be to a small extent—it would always be to the fullest. And each and every time, I've been disappointed. Why?—I didn't know why I always landed myself in these situations, placing so much optimism in things. The truth was I couldn't control them. My hopes they rise like air balloons: steady, but always reaching to heights I wasn't able to control. Why was I never able to turn that valve to lower levels and bring myself back down? Now my hopes had reached so high that it was painful to come down from it.

I heard Hisa giggle again, echoing to my ears as if taunting me of the person she had that I didn't. I shook my head in defeat. This evening was over for me. I've had enough of this party. I turned back and grabbed a couple bottles of alcohol, one for each hand and left for home. I was not going to get my chance with the guy; there was no use staying anymore.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Somewhere on the streets  
__**Time frame:**__ Friday, close to midnight  
__**Point of View: **__Syaoran_

I hadn't biked or driven to school today—I walked and now I was bearing the consequences of that decision. If I had known the day was going to turn out to be this long, I would have taken the car. It was around eleven-thirty, eleven-fourty-five in the middle of the night and I had yet to arrive home; I hadn't been in my apartment since seven this morning, since I left for school.

Walking home tonight was testing my resilience to the fatigue I felt. I had just come off a five-hour shift at the gas station before I headed over to the panel beating workshop that the boss there had invited me over earlier. I learnt a lot about the job there; it was good experience, but that extra hour was an extra hour, and it was taking a toll on my body and consciousness.

I was beat and aching all over. The muscles in my legs and blades of my shoulder felt like they were set ablaze by blowtorches; my head, thumping like I had a hammer beating at it, and was so heavy that forklifts would seize up in its attempt to lift the weight; and my eyes… my forehead, my entire face felt like it had been under heating lamps—dry and hot. As soon as I got home, I was going to head straight for the shower and then hit the sack after that.

A yawn escaped me; my eyes closed. The calm, the darkness… It felt good having them closed…

I snapped them back open when I felt my foot walk on lower ground. For a brief moment… long moment, I realised I had drifted off the footpath and onto the road. I breathed an exhausted sigh, inhaling some of the night's cool air into my system, hoping it'd keep me awake for the moment.

Moving myself back to the path, I started looking around my surroundings, needing something to distract me to sustain my consciousness longer.

Most people had retired for the day. The majority of households had their lights off and were pitch-dark now; I could only see one or two that was still lit. Everything was inanimate and extremely quiet. I was not the type to be concerned about the night, I was used to it, but truth be told, it did feel a little eerie having the street so deserted, being the only one here, walking at this hour.

Several more minutes passed. I was probably not more than fifteen minutes from my house, and again, the eyelids were starting to fall. I went to pinch the inner corners of my eyes before I tried shaking the weariness out of me. When I opened my eyes again, that was when I saw a figure in the distance.

It was a girl. She was hunched over something on the ground. As I got closer to her position, I noticed it was a gutter she was hunched over, on all fours, head tilted closely to the ground as if she was trying to listen to something.

Without frightening the girl, I let her know of my approach, proceeding with quiet and steady steps. She was whimpering—but it didn't appear she was in serious distress or grief. It was different—more like a homeless puppy's cry. I moved around to her right and stood there just to allow her some time to register my presence then I crouched beside her, the metre of room still between us.

"Kinomoto…?" I heard my thoughts speak aloud—surprised to discover the girl was Kinomoto Sakura. She briefly turned to look at me, hearing the soft call then she returned to her sobbing, looking back down at the gutter.

Nothing appeared to have happened to her. She looked fine. Her clothes appeared tidy, there was nothing out of place or damaged; her hair was slightly unkempt, but still held its style; and there were no tears; she wasn't crying. Yet, at the same time, she looked messed up.

I moved and leaned in closer, holding back a hand that hovered above her back, afraid it might startle her. "Are you alright?"

Sobs continued to follow before she responded to me, "It's ruined. It's no longer a pair."

Confused, I followed her gaze, and what I hadn't taken notice of before, there was a shoe, flat on its side. Assuming she was referring to the shoe, I motioned to pick it up. I took a quick glance around it. There was nothing wrong with this shoe—it hadn't been caught, broken, or scratched.

"You mean this?" I asked, gently putting it into her view.

Her eyes seemed to have lit up at the sight of it, her dejected mood abruptly transforming to extreme happiness that almost shocked me. Then the scream of delight came which seemed to have deafened my ears as it echoed loudly in the quiet night.

"You fixed it!"

She was intoxicated.

Kinomoto then stood up. I stayed crouched in my place, wondering what she was going to do next. As I was about to get up to steady her swaying body, I felt both of her hands beat down the left of my shoulder. I cringed and involuntarily hissed in response to the surge of pain that travelled up my neck to my head. She was attempting to get her shoe back on, using me as leverage.

"Whoa! Hold on a minute." Her feet were trying to connect with the shoe in her drunken condition, not allowing me to get up from my position to steady her. "Careful," I said to her, but she continued with frustration, ignoring my warnings.

Then her body started to lose height and control, toppling severely off to the side. Quickly I let go of the shoe to stand up and provide her support with my own body. I caught her by the shoulders as she mumbled about something that I couldn't make out. It was at the close contact, my nose picked up on the stench coming from her.

For a girl, Kinomoto smelt awful. There was no doubt about it; she had been drinking a lot. She also smelt like smoke. Kinomoto didn't strike me as the type to smoke, so I assumed she had been in an environment that did. Where had she gone before landing on the street like this?

"Stand still," I commanded firmly. It was probably the only tone she was going to respond to. "I'll help you get the shoe on." Instantly she stopped shifting. A child-looking expression washed over her previously vexed cast before she nodded.

Knowing a drunk's patience wasn't going to last very long, I made sure she was stable before I hastily crouched down and guided her foot into the shoe.

"Are you done?" she asked me in a drawn-out voice seconds later.

Yes, her patience was thinning. In under a minute, I suspected Kinomoto would start prancing around on the road if I took much longer. "Soon," I replied, but getting the thin strap through the buckle of her shoe was a much more difficult task than it'd normally be, especially when her foot kept rocking side to side.

Finally that strap was through that buckle and fastened tight. "Alright, you can move now."

"Thank you! My daddy was wrong—strangers in the dark are nice."

Upon that comment my thoughts trailed off to scenarios of the worst kind. There was no one around at the moment, but one couldn't predict the situation few minutes down the road. If she had come across an individual of the indecent kind, she could have easily been taken advantage of in her state. With Kinomoto dressed in that low-cut top and short skirt, it was lucky that I had found her instead of some perverted individual.

I should let someone know of her whereabouts. "Who can I—"

"No wait," she interrupted. She tilted her head, scrutinising me. "You're not a stranger. I know you. You're… you're Kansuke!"

Ashida…

"I can't believe you came for me! When I saw you up against that girl at the party, I thought you had forgotten all about me…"

She had been to a party. That was where she had been before she ended up here. She was in this state because of that guy.

"Where do you live, Kinomoto?" I asked, but she continued to exist in her own world.

"My knight in shining armour!" she sang. Kinomoto then wrapped her arms around my neck. I was shocked then I was choking. Countering it, I lowered myself to her height. It was then I realised that her weight had created enough force to soothe the aching muscles across the shoulder blade. For the moment, she had relieved them.

"It's still early. Let's go on a date," she continued. "Come on Kansuke, I'll take you to my house." Then I was dragged along, apparently heading to her home.

"Wait!" I shouted. She stopped in her tracks, pivoting around to face me. "Your house is that way?" I made sure, gesturing into a small lane, left of the road I had come from.

"Yes." She pointed to the lane, confirming it. "It's that way." I nodded and headed in that direction.

We crossed the wide road and walked into the lane, accompanying Kinomoto back home. This day had just turned into an even longer day. Thank god tomorrow was Saturday and I had that day off from school and work. If I didn't, I'd probably have to skip it altogether just to get my strength back from tonight's adventures. That would have been a first.

"Oh wait…" Kinomoto suddenly stopped. "Sorry, Kansuke…" She was still calling me by that guy's name. This Kinomoto was too hung up on Ashida. "My house is not this way…"

"What?" was all I could get out, but then again, what did I expect from a person who was intoxicated.

"It's back that way!"

I sighed heavily. My night was getting longer as we speak. I hope I don't drop dead while I escorted her home…

13 February 2004


	6. Chapter 6

**Skin-deep  
****©2004 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 06  
05 March 2004**

* * *

**On the previous chapter:** Sakura finally arrives at the party full of hope to be better acquainted with Kansuke. But when she finds Kansuke seducing a girl in the kitchen area of the house, the hope is crushed. Dejected and not feeling like partying anymore, she takes a couple bottles of alcohol before she leaves the party. Meanwhile, Syaoran is making his way home from a long night at the petrol station and the panel beating workshop. But when Syaoran sees a lone figure in the distance, his night becomes the lengthier when the person he finds in a drunken state is Sakura.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Somewhere on the streets  
__**Time frame:**__ Saturday, past midnight  
__**Point of View: **__Syaoran_

"Six packs," Kinomoto danced around me like I was a lamp post, hand sliding around my lower back then back round the front: "just like the six pack of beer I bought…" She went into a high-pitched laughter. "No!—Triple six packs. Kansuke has triple six packs. WOW!"

"Uh," I barely got out as I winced at the ring in my ears that her voice brought about.

"So, where shall we go next on our date?" Kinomoto asked.

"How about your house?" I answered. In circumstances like these, one wouldn't have been surprised by the sarcasm in my tone, but I had intended none. It was more a plea to end the exhausting night expressed in the most neutral tone I could possibly amass in my state at the moment more than anything.

At this early hour of Saturday, we were still attempting to find Kinomoto's place—a place I was beginning to think didn't exist. Up till this point, I had been dragged, hauled, towed—any word that described the unpleasant action of being led to one slamming door to the next.

Kinomoto gasped before blinking a few times. "You want to go to my house?" surprised by my request.

I sighed heavily. It wasn't like it was the first time I had suggested it. I had already presented the request several times tonight, but it always slipped her mind each time we left a property, it seems.

It had been three so far. The last one I would rather not have gone into. At the house we visited not too long ago, I had the _utmost pleasure_ of encountering a less than dressed (a sight I preferred not to have had etched in my mind) shaggy, and highly-tempered male individual who cussed and threatened: "if we didn't get off his property right now, he'd unleash his Rottweilers after us before shooting at our heels if the dogs didn't do it!" I presumed if Kinomoto continued in this fashion, this sort of response would be more standard as we headed further into the night. So, let's hope that this time, she'd be able to direct me to the right house and unleash _me_ to my own apartment before—god forbid—we actually stumble across a house that did have dogs unleashed.

Nevertheless, I replied, "Uh."

"Alright! Then my house it is!" She then yanked me by the arm—hard—almost tripping over as she took me to her house—I'm really hoping this time. She then told me, "My dad will be asleep when we get there, but you can still come over to my house. We'll have to be very quiet though…" She dipped her posture, demonstrating her point whilst she led the way in front of me, "…and sneak through the lounge so my dad can't hear us. You have to promise to stay quiet, okay?—or we'd never make it to my room."

"Uh."

"You haven't been to my room, have you?" she carried on; then giggled.

"No."

"We're going to have _so _much fun in my room!" She turned on her heel to set her face before me, transporting a bit of my attention back to the situation and away from the quiet world my mind had momentarily vacated off to. She grabbed the other hand to take hold of the both, like I was one of her girlfriends before prattling on, her tone with more excitement. "Ooh! We can have a slumber party—!"

She stopped; I worried. Her demeanour slowly transformed. The bouncy display I witnessed a moment ago disappeared behind a side of calm. A large part of my weariness left me now as I tuned in to take note of the change in her body language. There was something about her approach that alerted me to take caution—what for, I wasn't exactly too sure of. I became even more wary when she held a gaze that seemed… suspicious.

Next, I felt my left hand drop away to my side as she let it go. She leaned in close, angling a shoulder towards me; chin, eyebrow, a corner of her lips lifting. I was in this all-too-familiar situation once again. She flicked her wrist then her index finger pointed at my chest:

"Just for you…" a flirtatious smile showed through. My gaze never leaving hers, I began to feel the ginger touch of her finger trace idly down my torso, over my cotton tee, "and me," she whispered.

As she spoke those words, I had understood her meaning, standing still in my place. Her breath which formed the last word was seductively blown into me; and I had chosen to inhale at the wrong time, drawing in her breath along with mine. I could almost visualise her breath, and my breath travelling down my throat, together.

Time continued as my breathing became shallower and shallower, like the oxygen in the surrounding area had thinned all of a sudden. My chest was rising—rising and falling against hers. Her lips, they were up against my own—peach in colour, shimmering against the light.

Suddenly, realisation struck me hard at what I was beginning to think, to do—and it was wrong. There were milliseconds—seconds that were filled with confusion and wonder; I was struggling to comprehend the origins of this most bizarre, unacquainted feeling.

I looked away, retreating from them—from her, to create more room between us. The lack of space between our bodies was becoming a perilous position for me to be in. When I finally stood a comfortable distance away, I hesitated in directing my attention back towards Kinomoto, afraid those lingering thoughts would strengthen again.

She stayed in position, wearing an innocent smile. I moved behind to take her bare shoulders, encouraging her to keep moving. "Let's get to your house."

"Oo-ooh! Well, someone's in a hurry to get to my place!" She giggled as she twisted and turned her shoulders in my grasp. "Okaaay…"

"No… that's not—it's getting late." She continued to smile and I found myself desperately in search of something to divert the topic of conversation. "You're cold…" I quickly took off the jacket I wore and placed it over Kinomoto before I insistently moved her along further before anything else happened.

* * *

The night had reached one o'clock in the morning. We had turned into a long street a while back and was half way down it. This was the nineteenth hour of my day and my energy had long been depleted. I desperately wanted to flop down right here and now. I would not care for the cold, hard (and probably damp) ground beneath me, or the rather bitter wind that I detested; so long as I could rest, I'd bear it all for a bit of shut-eye; but there was still the problem with Kinomoto: I had yet to get her home.

She was still as energetic and as unpredictable as she had been in the hour or two she had been with me. She had been like an alarm clock for me, jolting me out of a deep sleep, much like the instrument. Every so often she'd shatter a few of my brain cells with her shrilling screams, or she would alarm me when she did her sudden takeoffs.

My mind then told me to lift my head to check up on her. To my surprise, Kinomoto was walking quietly beside me, appearing more subdued than she had been a moment ago. Then my brow vexed as I was slow to catch on to what was happening. Her posture arched and she had her hand cupped over her mouth. She stopped walking and lowered her body even further. That was when I knew what she was about to do.

Quickly I motioned to help her, moving to assist her from behind. I leveraged her by the arm and stomach as I waited for her to expel the contents from her system. Moans of discomfort shortly followed thereafter.

"Are you alright?" I asked. A languid half-nod responded me before I felt weight being applied to the hand that supported her stomach. She wanted to crouch.

I descended along with her, and not before long, she went into another round. This time it was not as heavy as the first, but there was still quite a lot of it. I watched her for a few seconds for her progress before looking away briefly to my surroundings to fill the idle time.

It was of course dark, there was no one in the surrounding area as one could imagine at this time, all lights were off in households. Off in the distance though, clearly there were still some who were up. I could hear the traffic coming from the main road, frequent sounds of cars passing through. I could also hear a very low, rumbling sound of train wheels on tracks. That's right—in the area there was a railway route not too far from here, just several blocks from the petrol station I worked at.

I heard moans from Kinomoto again. I turned my attention back towards her. The spell was short, but understanding the unpleasant feeling of having one's stomach emptied, I tried offering alleviation through the rubbing of the back. I leaned in before softly asking again, "Alright?"

"Yeah." She had moaned the word through, head still towards the ground, breathing slightly heavy.

"Good." I then went into the right pocket of my trousers, reaching for the handkerchief I always kept with me and placed it in front of her view. "Use this to clean yourself up." She didn't take it. Instead she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of my jacket. I figured during the vomiting episodes, some of it had most likely splattered onto the jacket already, so it seemed pointless in even worrying about the sleeve now.

Feeling the night march on further, I got Kinomoto to her feet, feeling she was fit enough to get back on track. "Let's get going," I told her.

Kinomoto obliged under my steer before she lost her sense of balance. I allowed her to fall back onto my shoulder. All her earlier activities, the alcohol, and the throwing up must have taken up quite a bit of her energy. She must finally be falling to the effects of the both.

I surveyed my surroundings, wondering if any one of these houses were Kinomoto's. If her house was not around the area, I concluded that maybe it'd be a more sensible option to take her to my apartment instead of staying out here in the night any longer looking for her place.

"How far is it to your house?" I asked her, but once again she didn't reply as her head and body slumped into mine.

My apartment, I suppose.

"Okay. Let's go, Kinomoto." I turned her around and draped one of her arms over my shoulder. "We're heading to my apartment," I informed her before we got going.

Finally I was making a start on getting home. I would have never predicted I'd have to bring Kinomoto home with me at the end of tonight, but at least this day of mine was coming to a close and I could finally rest easy. Tomorrow was another story though. Kinomoto was happy to see me today, but that was due to the fact that she thought I was that guy and she was drunk. Tomorrow, when she wakes up, I'd most likely have to explain to her why she was at my apartment and not her own place; tomorrow, I was no doubt going to have to deal with the side belonging to the popular-girl Kinomoto.

I took my cell phone out from my trouser pocket for the time. There was a missed call. I exited from it. The time was ten past one. I should be home by one thirty.

Slipping the cell phone back into my pocket, I continued down the sidewalk towards my house. Kinomoto let out a quiet giggle before mumbling a couple of words. I directed an eye to the corner to see a contented smile on her lips. I turned back when she asked me—

"Why don't you notice me?" There was sadness in her tone. She then faced me with eyes filled with that same sadness. I was still processing her words when she asked, "You like me right?"

I continued to gaze at her, unsure of the reply; for this question wasn't for me, but the guy she was so wrapped up in. She pushed on, asking—

"More than that girl?"

She looked so desperate to hear the answer she wanted, but I wasn't him; and though she was under the influence of alcohol hence whatever I told would not be retained, but I didn't think I could answer her. So, I dismissed it and instead said, "We should be home in ten more minutes. We should get going."

She seemed hesitant for a while, reading me maybe, before she nodded and made a move to walk.

Kinomoto was quiet and much easier to control now as she kept by my side without trouble. She still swayed, but nothing of concern. She rubbed at her arms. I asked, "Are you still cold, Kinomoto?"

There was no response from her; only a slight twitch to her head. I motioned to call her again when she turned and with an angered tone, she said, "_You don't give a damn about me!_" There was a rock of her heel and I reached a hand towards her, concerned she would fall, but she slapped it away. "_Don't! Why don't you just go back to that girl with the pants you were trying to get into?_"

I frowned at what she was revealing to me, at the hurt I heard in her tone. It never occurred to me that Kinomoto had this sort of problem, but here she was telling me this. The thing is, this was all in vain.

Her eyes became heated and before I knew it, out of her frustration with her problems, two hands shoved at my chest with force.

"Hey!—"

I was about to call for her to settle down, but in result of her actions, she had clumsily fallen to the concrete paving. She sat there dejected and probably feeling unwanted—quite a pitiful sight for what I was used to. I knelt to the ground, softening my tone to sympathy, saying—

"Hey, come on now, get up." Kinomoto stayed on the ground, continuing to drown in her desolation. What followed were soft weeping sounds.

She was crying; tears continued to escape her. Not knowing what to do, for a few moments, I watched her with unease. For anyone to be reduced to such a state, a great deal of distress must reside within. I didn't like to see anyone cry; I hated it. I placed a hand on her arm. I searched for her eyes, encouraging her to look at me; she found my gaze and I guided her head upwards, allowing me to squarely look at her.

"I like you."

A sniff preceded the smile I finally saw on her lips. "Really?"

I smiled back—just glad that she had stopped crying. "I don't hate you," I replied. Her expression remained a smile for a moment before she broke into a delighted giggle. She was happier.

Alright. "Shall we go?" She agreed with a nod.

She stood up in the same fashion as the previous times I had helped her to her feet, swaying and unbalanced. I noticed whilst we ascended she held my gaze all the way to when we were standing, and was still holding that gaze. I thought nothing of it as I turned back to the front to begin making our way back to my apartment, but my face was turned back to Kinomoto by a hand of hers.

Puzzlement filled me as to why she had forced me to face her again. She stood there without a word being spoken, motionless. She took a step forward and stared; I returned the stare, but with curiosity. Then her height increased as she stood on her toes before leaning into me. She said,

"I recognise those eyes." She paused. I continued to stand in my place, waiting. "I've… seen them before. They belong to, those eyes, they belong to… the Loner."

Kinomoto finally comes to realise I wasn't Ashida Kansuke. _Now what_, I thought. She did nothing but stepped back and walked off down the footpath speedily without me.

"Hey, wait!"

"You're so slow, hurry up, slowpoke!" she shouted in the distance, then laughed. Her laughter reverberated through the neighbourhood.

I sighed. She was strange—even for a drunkard. I followed briskly to catch up before my brow arched in reaction to her entrance into a property. To that, I ran after her. When I made it to the property in a panting heap, I saw Kinomoto sitting on the porch outside of the house.

"What are you doing?"

"This is my house."

I had doubts. After all, previous experiences had told me that she wasn't at the best in recognising her house when she was intoxicated. I looked around. This place was clean and well-kept—at least the areas of the property that were illuminated by the security light had been. It could be Kinomoto's place.

Suddenly, breaking my thoughts, I heard the sound of a lock of the door being turned. Kinomoto stood up, apparently waiting for it to be opened. I joined her, ready to greet the person behind the door.

"Sakura! It's almost two in the morning." An enraged man stood at the door. This guy had dark hair, lean, and looking not too much older than Kinomoto. I assumed it was her older brother.

We had found Kinomoto's place.

"Where have you been?" he continued.

"Touya! What are you doing here? Where's Dad?"

"Dad's not home… And you're drunk."

"No I'm not," Kinomoto replied, letting an awry smile show through.

Judging by the grumbling sound from deep within his throat, he was not happy with her state. I suppose he wasn't happy with me either as he shot a quick glance at me. He returned to Kinomoto. "You better get inside." Kinomoto headed inside unsteadily. He waited until he was in the house before his attention was directed towards me.

"Who are you?" he asked, his tone lacking any signs of courtesy.

"I'm—"

"Kansuke, aren't you coming in?" Kinomoto interrupted, coming back out to hover around the frame of the door.

"No," I answered; as did this Touya guy.

"Does that jacket belong to you?" he said, pointing to my jacket Kinomoto was still wearing.

"Yes."

"Sakura, can you give him back the jacket?" She obliged, taking it off and then handed to him. Touya, in the midst of handing it to me, halted. He inspected it before he said,

"Do you want me to have it cleaned?" He must have noticed the vomit stains. It appears that this guy I had thought as rude did have some courtesy after all.

"It's alright. I'll do it myself."

"Alright." He then handed the jacket to me. "Thank you for bringing my sister home." Then without a second more, the door was slammed shut in my face.

Finally I was able to make a start in ending the day and returning home. My apartment wasn't too far from here and I was looking forward to being able to finally get some sleep.

05 March 2004


	7. Chapter 7

**Skin-deep  
****©2004 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 07  
15 June 2004**

**

* * *

****On the previous chapter:** Syaoran was still having trouble finding Sakura's house after going into many properties. When her drunken state goes from senseless babble to words of anger and frustration, Syaoran is shoved at the chest—blamed for Kansuke's failure to notice her (still under the impression that he is Kansuke). Finding her treatment towards him undeserving, Syaoran's anger rises but quickly was subdued upon the sad sight as Sakura sat on the ground crying. He consoled her, offering the answer she had look for. After calming her down, both finally make it to Sakura's house.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Several blocks from Sakura's local high school  
__**Time frame:**__ Monday, early morning  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

Today was the Monday after Eriol's party. It was a typical spring day: the sun was shining, the sky was of the softest of blues—only wisps of cloud disturbed the colour's mastery—and blowing lightly was a crisp morning breeze. Normally, it was a sight I revelled in, but today, I was in no such mood: in fact, the sun's rays only served to aggravate the throb in my head, where the seven-thirty-morning breeze—which I felt had a bit of bite upon its touch—hurt rather than refresh me as it dried the much needed moisture from my eyes.

The energy that I sensed in the air this sunny Monday morning was definitely not in me. I was tired and I wished I didn't have to attend the eight-o'clock meeting we had for peer support leaders—and prefects alike—who had chosen to sign up for camp leadership at the upcoming junior camps. Just like the weekends, I wished I was still tucked in bed and under the darkness of my covers (as I had been suffering with the most excruciating hangover from Eriol's party); but just like the weekends (the days when I worked at a dry-cleaning place—a part-time job I took on two years ago to earn a little extra spending money), I couldn't; I had obligations: I was one of such people who had chosen to sign up to lead a group of juniors at camp.

These meetings, they took place fortnightly for about two months leading up to it. As part of our training, we were required to attend them and go through a set of safety and first-aid procedures and leadership skills taught by the school's camp coordinators and other knowledgeable professionals; and we discussed a range of scenarios and our reactions to them. In normal circumstances, attending them was no big deal, but the thought of sitting through it this morning sent me into a state of dread.

Closing my eyes after a drawn-out sigh, I sought to relieve the dull headache that continued to persist before pinching the inner corners briefly. With the lids over my eyes, my head stopped throbbing as intensely as before; I was even able to enjoy the bright chirps of some birds off in the distance. Finding the activity soothing, I kept them closed—until I was interrupted by a flow of disturbing images. They were of Kansuke and that girl together, against the wall in a corner—her shoulders bobbing up and down as she giggled and him hovering over her, his muscular body inches from hers, and gazing intently at her.

A pang of pain surfaced and I slowly opened my eyes whilst the sequence of images continued to play another round in my mind. These images, they've played many times before since Friday. Unexpectedly, when things were most quiet and most peaceful, the images would appear. I didn't know what to do with them; not enough time had passed for me to decide. One thing I knew though was that Kansuke was this type of person: if he wasn't with that girl in my class, it would have been another girl. Girls were always around him. He was a popular guy—blonde, tall, and he was handsome. Everyone was after him. So why I was so shocked that night, I wasn't too sure.

I sighed: I only wished he'd notice me… that 'another girl' was me…

Then suddenly, I found myself frowning upon the surfacing of my next thought. As clear as that incident was between Kansuke and that girl, it seemed that it was all I remembered. There were the moments I recalled taking a couple of alcohol before deciding to take a walk outside to calm my mind, but after that, it was a complete blur; how I had got home and laying safely in my bed was a mystery to me.

When I asked my brother—who had apparently come home in the weekends to take care of things while dad flew out of town for a day conference (something Dad had forgotten to inform me)—he had said that I'd been calling him Kansuke. Hearing that it might have been him, the moment I got off from work, I called Tomoyo to confirm, but to my disappointment, she told me that it wasn't Kansuke. He was one of the many that were left unconscious at Eriol's manor overnight.

It was a worry at first when I didn't know who had actually brought me home, but Touya seemed to be okay with the guy as his lecture was more focused on the issue of me getting to such a drunken state rather than on the actual person who had brought me home. He spent a good while scolding me like he was my father about the dangers of wandering in the street, dressed the way I was; and with me completely 'hammered' and unaware, I could have easily been seduced and kidnapped by some pervert who could have shipped me overseas to work as a concubine; before finishing off with something along the lines of it being fortunate that it wasn't the case and that this guy decided to spare my life and chose to bring me home as opposed to the latter.

My brother, sometimes he had such a big imagination.

But then again, I suppose this time he was right. I could have been picked up by some stranger and left scrambling for my freedom or worse yet, left for dead. It was lucky Dad wasn't home. He was a gentle father so he wasn't too into the verbal punishment like Touya; he would never voice his disappointment; he'd just lecture me the rights and wrongs before allowing me to think it over. Still, just thinking about the unspoken disappointment in his eyes, it would have been enough to make me regret my actions instantly. I couldn't have handled Dad's disappointment in me. So I was glad it was Touya who saw me drunk than my dad.

All of a sudden, a loud, drawn-out horn went off. I spun my head to my left, towards the direction of the sound; a car was swerving away from this guy who was dashing past oncoming traffic like an idiot.

"Sorry!" the guy's voice echoed through the street.

The car passed him with no further fuss as the perpetrator continued across the street with several articles of clothing draped over one of his arms. He then disappeared into a store. Moments later he was out, without the clothes, replaced by a cup and a couple of items of food in hand.

As I got closer, I realised that this 'idiot' was also the Loner. It had been kind of weird actually: I've been running into him a lot these days. I was beginning to wonder what the deal was with everything—whether it was just a coincidence, or because of some weird astronomical alignment of the planets, or something else, that constantly made me run into him.

He got into his car which was just ahead of me. Not intending to acknowledge him, I casually walked past his car, not expecting him to catch sight of me. But then I heard two soft beeps. _Should I just pretend the beeps weren't for me and continue to walk past?_

I stopped and turned around.

He had his window wound down, head inclined out the window. "Hey," he called. I didn't respond and just waited for whatever he wanted to say to me. "Do you want a lift?"

What—to school, with the Loner? I wasn't going to be caught dead standing next to him, let alone sit next him. And in his car?—no thanks, I think I'd rather walk. Okay, that was the irrational side of me talking, but I didn't need him to take me to school.

I replied, "It's—"

"Or would that damage your reputation?" I almost choked on my own breath at his matter-of-fact tone, at the ease he got that sentence out, silenced without a response to such an incorrect deduction. Reputation had nothing to do with the reason to why I preferred not to enter into his car. The Loner was a classmate—a person that I barely even associated with. Plain and simple: it was odd; I didn't know this guy enough to just hop into his car all of a sudden.

As that was, indecision plagued me. I could have easily declined and walked away and let him think whatever he wanted to think of me. But he wasn't right about me; I wasn't as shallow as he had made me out to appear; I could sit in the same car as him.

Reaching for the passenger's door, I took my seat next to him—after all, it was a free ride to school, and the extra time would allow me to take some time to rest my head. Stiffly I sat in my seat, as the Loner headed back onto the road. Awkwardness settled in and I felt my gaze dart around, unable to find a position to settle on that felt comfortable and natural. It was only after a few minutes that I felt the awkwardness die down as my attention switched from the situation itself to the sounds and interior of the Loner's car.

Each time he changed gears the car made drawn-out, powerful hissing sounds; his gear was not like the standard ones: the knob on the top of it was changed to a metallic-looking one, finished off with a grey and black design in leather; the stereo looked pretty flashy too: no sound played out of it (I presumed it had been muted), but there were a lot of controls and graphics that were illuminated in reds and green, the little bars on the display rising and falling. Looking through the reflection of the rear vision mirror, a few stacks of books scattered at the back. They didn't look like school books, more like manuals for something. Then dropping my eyes to the left of me, I caught onto the silver-metal-looking clutch pad; it was at this point I realised that this Loner really liked his cars.

"Have you had breakfast?" the Loner asked suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts. I scrolled my eyes to the arm that was extended and placed in front of me. He held a paper-wrapped item of food with the word 'Bagel' printed on it.

"I have two. Would you like one?" he continued.

"No thanks," I declined.

He nodded once; then placed the bagel down onto a flat surface before unwrapping it with one hand as he kept a hand on the steering wheel. He then took a large bite from it—a couple of large bites. Both my brows rose in surprise: what an appetite this guy had; left in his hand, was barely a segment that was no larger than one of an orange. The bagel was pretty much gone after those two bites.

A yellow traffic light had changed to red; we decelerated. With the engine quietly vibrating now, the atmosphere in the car died down to yet another uncomfortable silence. I watched the Loner put the car into neutral before taking his foot off the clutch and putting on the handbrake. He reclined back against his seat, the arm steering the wheel relaxed against the window ledge.

I couldn't help but stare at him. He didn't look back at me though. He was just sitting still, apathetically staring outside, but seemingly content and untroubled: I wonder what went through the mind of a guy like him.

My eyes then followed the hand that was feeling for the cup that sat in its holders underneath the stereo; he took it in his grasp whilst his attention maintained on the road ahead. Continuing in his casual manner, he opened up the cup's lid and took in a whiff of the drink, which had soon wafted towards me: c_hocolate_. Once again, he offered it to me; and again, I declined with a shake of the head. But I'd admit, it did smell good: I might have to get one later myself.

"Looking forward to the camp trip coming up?"

"Camp trip?" I hadn't intended it to come out sounding like I didn't know what he was talking about—or even respond with such an answer—but somehow it did.

"The junior camps—you signed up, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I replied simply—but how did he know? Then a thought came to me. He was at those camp meetings every Monday too. He situated himself near a wall, at the side of the room. He wasn't a prefect, so he must have been a peer support leader.

"So, you signed up?" I asked.

"Yeah—I thought it'd look good on my application for next year."

He was referring to his application to university next year. I hadn't really thought too much about what I was going to do next year let alone settle on where I wanted to head into or what I wanted to do; I guess I'll just have to think about that nearer to the end of the year. The Loner however, it seemed he pretty much had it all planned out. I didn't expect anything less from someone who got A's for practically every single test, really.

All of a sudden, I heard the piercing ring of a cell phone. Following the sound, I met up with the Loner's cell phone that was supported by a clip near the dashboard. He reached for the earplug which dangled off the phone holder before putting it into his ear.

"Hey…"

That phone's always so busy, even at this early hour. I looked to the display on the screen. It read: _Meiling_. It sounded like a girl's name.

"Yeah I got your letters…" He didn't speak for a while as the person on the other end apparently had a lot to say. "…So when does she want this to happen?" Several nods followed before he expressed a heavy sigh.

I wondered what it was that was making the loner talk unhappily to whoever it was on the other end of the call.

I caught onto my nosiness: I returned to the front and waited for the traffic lights to turn green. But of course that didn't stop me from being able to hear his end of the conversation. None of what he said made sense to me, but he said,

"No, it's fine. She will proceed whether I say or do anything to oppose it." There was a considerable pause before he sighed; then said, "Uh, I know. Thanks for letting me know, Meiling. We'll talk another time."

As he said that, the traffic lights switched to green and the car in front of us moved off with many cars behind forced to wait because of our non-moving car. I was about to tell the loner that the lights had switched to green, but he caught on a quick moment later: he slammed his cup back into the cup holder; made a quick transition to first gear; clutch down; handbrake down; before we lurched forward. I was quite impressed with his speed actually, even as I was being pushed hard against my seat from the effects of inertia.

Calmness came as we returned to normal speed.

"Are you alright?" the loner asked me. A hand was on my right shoulder. I felt it there a moment after the sudden lift-off. He returned it to the wheel; I nodded to his question slowly: something about it—the way he said it reminded me of something; it was familiar, but I couldn't grasp onto why it was.

He nodded also before his brows rose. His attention was back onto the person on the other end of the phone call which seemed to not have been ended.

"No, I wasn't talking to you…" A brief silence; before he said, "A classmate," brows then furrowed slightly, "Yes…"

I assumed the person on the other end was asking about the person sitting in the car with him: that was me. But I couldn't guess the next words that the person on the other end had said as the loner's next words and actions confused me: after the last response, his head jerked backwards—"No, it's not like that!" His voice had risen in volume and distress was apparent in his tone—"Look, I'll talk to you when I get home. By—"

He stopped again.

"Okay, okay, whatever you say. B—"

The loner's thumb that had positioned over the button on his hands free cell phone device never got pressed as the person on the other end seemed to have hung up on him.

He sighed before he took the earpiece he had in his right ear out. "Typical Meiling," he muttered to himself as he did so.

_I suppose the person on the other end hung up on him_, I thought.

Then another thought entered as we resumed in quietness: the scene which had just passed made me wonder if my assumptions of the loner being a loner was wrong—_was this person he talked to a moment ago his girlfriend?_

Many more moments in silence passed before we finally reached school. When we entered the school grounds, the loner and I parted ways as he had told me he had some things to do before he attended the meeting that he and I had. Even though that was his explanation, somehow I wasn't too convinced that it was the real reason he had left. He may have sensed my discomfort of entering the meeting together.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Phys-Ed Building  
__**Time frame:**__ Same day  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

"Now that we've done the drills, for the last twenty minutes let's have some good rallies going alright?" the P.E. teacher announced.

I loved P.E. It was my favourite subject out of all the ones offered by the school. I've taken this subject since grade eight. The first three years of high school it was compulsory, but the last two years we were able to choose whether we took it or not; and of course I chose the subject. Who wouldn't? It was the only subject in school that I didn't need to cram day and night to understand.

Volleyball was this week's activity for phys-ed. Our class had been learning some basic volleyball skills beforehand—setting, spiking, serving, and all that sort of stuff—and now we were finally able to put those skills to a bit of use.

"Right, get into groups of threes or fours and position yourselves onto the courts."

As soon as the P.E. teacher finished, I immediately searched for Kansuke. I found him standing near the entrance. Just as I was about to call out to him to ask him if he wanted to form a group with me, I heard a voice call for me. "Kinomoto." It was a classmate of mine. He was one of Kansuke's team-mates in soccer. "Do you want to join us?"

I looked over at the direction his head gestured. He had two other people in his group already. I suppose I could join them, but I really wanted to be in the same group as Kansuke… Then I heard another person call my name from behind. It was Eriol.

"Sakura. Over here!" he said. I saw Kansuke next to him. I nodded to accept the invitation.

I turned back to the guy with the grin still on my face. "Sorry, I've already got a group."

"No sweat." He then left.

Happily, I made my way to Kansuke and Eriol. We chose to position ourselves on one of the courts on the far end. Eriol had already picked up a ball, and he was casually doing some soccer tricks with it while waiting for a team to occupy the other side. Kansuke joined him.

Just a few steps away, I saw two of my classmates, Kojima Natsumi and Daishi Tomoko, talking, still in search of a third member to join their group.

"Hey Natsumi, Tomoko," I thought to call, "have you found a group yet?"

Natsumi shook her head. "We just need a third person."

"One of you can join our group if you like, and there's another group that needs a fourth person just over there." I pointed to the group with the guy that I was approached by just before, attempting to be helpful.

They neither nodded nor shook their heads, they were in between, taken by indecision. They continued to look around, laying their chances on finding one more member, instead of splitting up.

Natsumi gasped. "Tomoko, there he is!"

I switched my attention to where the two directed their attention. The Loner had just walked into the gym. He probably went out for a drink or something.

"Oooh yeah, we can ask Li Syaoran to join our group." They seemed excited in recruiting him. I suppose he wasn't a bad team member. Even though he was a loner, he wasn't too bad at the activities; he could do a few things.

"Li, we need another member. Do you want to join our group?" I heard them call loudly to him. He nodded and Natsumi, Tomoko, and the loner formed a group.

"Everyone in a group?" the P.E. coach interrupted not too soon after. He looked around; no one indicated they hadn't. "Okay, we're going to rotate clockwise. When the buzzer on the electronic score-board goes off, head to the next court. When the ball bounces out of court or your team misses it, rotate positions within each of your teams, and service goes over to your opposition. Alright, begin."

Our team began to set ourselves up. Kansuke positioned himself at the back corner as usual in games like these. He had a strong arm and could launch that ball a mile away. Eriol settled himself around centre court; and I settled myself at the nets. The front was where I was best. Any ball that hopped over that net, I was there in a snap; the ball didn't have the slightest chance passing me.

Well… most of the time.

"You ready to find out the taste of dirt?" Kansuke was doing his usual pre-game psych-ups.

"I should be asking you, 'coz yo goin' t'da ga-rave!" the guy across us retorted.

"You wait and see!"

"Mate, you're not going to win if you don't make a serve," Eriol interrupted. "Serve the ball!"

To that, Kansuke began the game with a smirk. "Game on!"

Typical macho behaviour, but whatever: game on. I settled my stance, hands above my waist, at the ready. I waited for the sound of hand to ball.

There it was. I watched the ball fly overhead, heading steeply towards the back corner. The guy there, seemingly unintimidated by the speed, controlled the ball, sending it high into the air. His team mates watched it upon its descent. One moved in to set it up to control the ball further. I could sense it now. They were preparing to return it, and it looked like they were going to send it back with a spike judging from their form and approach. I stood close to the net, readying myself to block it.

"Good going, Sakura!" the guys praised me. I had successfully blocked it, sending it back to their side of the court. I felt quite proud of myself being able to defend such a ball. But most importantly of all, Kansuke saw me do it. Now, we just needed to wait for the ball to come back to this side and finish off the rally… and then some more.

I kept a tight watch on the opposition's moves, watching them do a couple of forearm passes and volleys between them before sending it back once again. I ducked as I allowed the ball to pass me to the guys. Eriol caught it, setting the ball high. I moved in to set up the ball before retreating, making way for Kansuke to play the final shot. He attacked the ball with force, sending it off at a steep angle. The next thing we heard were a few bodies hitting ground before the satisfying sound of the ball's bounce resonated to our ears.

We all cheered at our victory. "Yeah!"

"What did I say?" Kansuke mocked the other team, rolling his head, and chin held up high as he did so.

I smiled. We won that one. It looks like our winning streak had stayed with us for a while longer as we won the majority of the rallies against this team; the combination of Kansuke's powerful serves, Eriol's saves, and my blocks at the front were unbeatable and on fire! When it was time to rotate to face off with the next team, our skills seemed to outmatch them as we won the next team too—quite easily might I add. I know this wasn't a real competition, but it did feel good to outplay our opposition each and every time.

The next rotation was our third. We'll see if we can put this one away as well and continue our winning streak. This last game before class ended, we met up with Natsumi's team.

Natsumi was at the nets like I was. "How's your team been doing?" she asked me.

"Good. We've won every time. How did you and Tomoko do?"

"Lost one; won one." She had said it with a smile.

She was always smiling. I don't think I've ever seen her get angry or frustrated with anything. It was kind of strange to find a person like that, almost unworldly, but Kojima Natsumi was one of those types. I didn't know her too well, but us being prefects—the Head of Culture and me being the Head of Social—we did spend a lot of time discussing matters together and when things got a bit too much and I started to stress out, she would still be in good spirits. I thought I was the most optimistic, but she was more.

I flicked my eyes to the right as I saw the Loner approach the net. He sent a glance towards me then settled on Natsumi. "Kojima, I'll take the front this time. You can serve first." Then he handed her the ball.

"Sure, Li."

Natsumi started to head for the back just when Tomoko's voice halted her in her steps. "Oh I remember now. Natsumi, didn't you want to show Li your contacts?"

I looked at Natsumi, searching for the thing Tomoko had told her to show him. I didn't notice anything—at least nothing different. What I did notice, though, was Natsumi's change of demeanour. She seemed a little stiff.

"Huh? Umm… umm…"

Natsumi just stayed at her position like something had glued her in place, while Tomoko made a few hand gestures for the Loner to approach her. He looked confused and exchanged a few puzzled looks between Tomoko and Natsumi.

"Natsumi has new ones. What do you think of them, Li?" Tomoko said.

He obliged as he stepped up to look at them. He lowered himself to level with Natsumi's eyes, studying them further. The two were only a foot away from me. I watched with curiosity.

"Your eyes are blue, aren't they?" he asked in a soft tone, almost as if he was mesmerised by them. I looked at her eyes, and right now, they were green.

"Y-yeah." To my surprise, she was stuttering in front of him. "These… are coloured contacts. Do you… like them?"

At that point, I noticed the pigment in her face had reddened, not to mention, the last couple of her words had come out squeaked. I, myself, was quite taken aback by the proximity he was from her. Was he that intrigued by a couple of coloured contacts?

The Loner stood back upright as he nodded to her question, "Uh. It's a very nice green," before he walked away casually.

Natsumi smiled and blinked—a blink that was oddly longer than a usual one. Before she took her position on the court, I saw her wipe her hands on the back of each other. I wasn't willing to think it, but was the perspiration she was wiping off caused by him—the loner? Then I saw her watch the back of the Loner. I continued to follow her gaze towards Li, trying to understand what she saw, before I returned my gaze on Natsumi. She caught my eye and gave me a self-conscious smile.

The scene between Natsumi and Tomoko that was before me now was a familiar sight. As Natsumi made her way to the back, her friend was giggling at Natsumi's embarrassment. In response, Natsumi sent her a friendly shove before, I suspected, muttering something along the lines of "How could you do that to me?" all the while, self-consciously checking that the guy she obviously liked was not seeing this embarrassing display of hers.

Just imagine Tomoyo and the others playing a trick like that on me: she telling Kansuke to look directly into my eyes, him and me facing each other with only the tiniest gap between our faces—my heart would completely jump out of my body. But then again, how great would it feel to have Kansuke so close.

The image of Natsumi's close encounter with the Loner replayed in my mind again. Dismissing it moments later, I blinked them away, returning to the game.

In an attacking stance I prepared myself next to the net. Eriol was to the left of me and Kansuke was situated at the corner of the court, preparing to serve.

"You ready ladies?" Kansuke called across the court.

"Ready!" Natsumi replied. Natsumi held the ball, flat out on her palm before executing an underarm serve.

With that, the contest officially commenced between us and Natsumi's team. But before we even got into the first rally, it ended, lasting not even half a minute. The second rally and the following ones were no different. It didn't feel like much of a contest at all.

Having won each and every rally so far, our team had begun to feel extremely confident. At times, I swore we were only trying half-heartedly. It was hard not to. But I did feel bad for Natsumi's team; and I had expected Natsumi to feel down about being defeated so many times—especially by the balls of the Kansuke; at times I felt he was a little too harsh on them; at times, he took the game way too seriously—but they seemed quite the opposite. They were unfazed and untroubled by the unrelenting thrashing we were dealing out.

"That's service over," Kansuke narrated. The Loner picked up the ball and threw it over as his team rotated. Now Tomoko was at the back, Natsumi at the nets, and the Loner at the centre.

Kansuke picked it up and we started again. He leapt into the air and served the ball. I watched Natsumi attempt to get a forearm on it, but she didn't get a clean enough contact and sent it dangerously off at an angle. The Loner whipped himself to the far right. There was loud stomping and screeching but the Loner made it—barely. Tomoko quickly moved to receive the ball, sending it back over the net. Kansuke met up with the flat return to set it up.

"I'll take it!" I called. He had set it up high and I saw my chances to put my skills into practice. There was an area on the opposition's court that was completely unprotected and wide open for an attack. Internally, I expressed a hissing, "Yes!" This was going to be good.

Down it went, ball hitting hard on the ground! Everyone on Natsumi's team seemed to be in shock, having not prepared for that one. It was probably mean of me to send yet another defeat in their direction, but how often do I get to execute such a shot? I jumped in joy. That was my best shot yet.

"Way to go, Sakura! That's another point to the team." Eriol complimented.

"You're one smooth chick!" came in Kansuke.

"Thanks!" again, proud of my feat.

Once again, Natsumi's team rotated.

We set the next one up, getting over yet another great and controlled serve. But if we were expecting to win again, we were in for disappointment. It seemed that our winning streak had run out. Every ball, no matter how difficult, was retrieved by the other team. Not only that, Natsumi's team looked to have much more cohesion and coordination than we had; and together with the Loner's perfect placement, it caused miscommunication between Eriol and Kansuke, the drop of the ball, and therefore the drop of our service. For the first time in the game, we rotated.

Upon the rotation, Kansuke's frustration looked to be mounting as his gaze firmly set on the Loner who was now at the back of the courts, ready to serve. Although Natsumi's team did lose most of their rallies, and as much as I hate complimenting him, the Loner's plays during our recent rallies had been controlled and accurate. So much so, it had even Kansuke on the run.

The Loner tossed the ball high into the air, his hand pointing towards the descending ball, waiting until it fell to the right height above his head. He then leapt high into the air and smashed it over to our side.

My eyes widened in astonishment: _Impressive!_ I heard myself say. He could _really_ serve: it came across fast and powerful. It occurred to me that, all this time he was holding back. Crouching down, preparing myself in the case that it reached me, I watched the ball descending at a sharp and dangerous angle near Kansuke, but not close enough. In a desperate attempt to keep the ball in place, he slid his body underneath it. Barely and ungracefully, he saved it, sending it up into the air, high enough for me to get an arm on it. It was an uncontrolled one, but it was sufficient as it went over the net, giving us some time to recover—at least that was what I had hoped.

As we tried to regroup, I caught a glimpse of Tomoko's volley. The next thing I saw was the Loner in the midst of yet another powerful smash. He sent the ball flying back to our side of the court, right in front of Kansuke who was still getting back onto his feet. It barely missed him.

"Wow. That was amazing, Li!" I heard Natsumi praise.

"Yeah. That was awesome!" Tomoko chimed in.

I looked to the Loner with a bit of disbelief. Where had all of that come from? He didn't return any huge reaction to his team mates' praise, though. No celebration upon receiving their first point, no jump for joy—just nods in acknowledgement before repositioning for the next serve.

Everyone on my team also got back into position. It was quieter than usual at the moment. I could sense a sort of tense, competitive atmosphere on the court now. Maybe it was my imagination, but the back of Kansuke in particular looked serious.

We threw the ball back over to the other side. Again, the Loner served and this time we were prepared for any of his attacks. But unlike the previous times, this time he rested his attack and softened the service, just lobbing the ball over. It came to me and I sent it back over the court just as casually. Natsumi set it up for Tomoko; Tomoko set it up for the Loner. He sent it back softly once more.

So it seemed the team had decided to tone down the pace of the game. I was glad too. If they had continued to play like before, we'd have a real game on our hands. We had been winning all this time and I was sure the P.E. coach had been sparing an eye over to our side, applauding our skills. To find out that we could be beaten by this team and by a team with the Loner?—alright, he actually understood the sport of volleyball more than I had first given him credit for—but showing up the combination of two real athletes and me? It didn't seem right.

"I'm calling for it," Eriol said.

Eriol pitched it high. Kansuke called for it next. The way he approached it, I knew immediately he was attempting another fast, powerful spike. What I didn't expect was where he was aiming—or rather, who.

"Ohh Bulls-eye!" Kansuke laughed. Then a professed apology came, "I didn't mean to do that, eh? Sorry mate!"

I looked at the Loner. My brows furrowed in concern. The ball had hit him hard between his shoulder and jaw.

Tomoko gasped as did Natsumi. "Li, are you alright?"

The Loner had his head down to the left, not responding for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he finally confirmed before looking up and gazing directly at Kansuke. It didn't look so friendly, but apparently Kansuke was unaffected as he just brushed it off, still finding it amusing. For the first time, I severely disagreed with Kansuke's actions, finding the suspected reasons for his act totally immature.

Then the sound of the buzzer went off.

"Everyone: that's the end of today's lesson," the P.E. teacher announced. He then directed his attention to our side of the court. "Li, are you alright?" Despite the pain that was visible through the discoloration that was emerging near his jaw, he nodded. "Get yourself a pack of ice on that in the nurse's office." The Loner nodded once more. "Alright then. Please pack up the gear and set it by the equipment room. Thanks everyone! See you next class."

"Hey, mate, you don't mind packing this up for us?" Without waiting for an answer from the Loner, Kansuke left for the changing rooms without remorse.

"We'll help too, Li," I heard Natsumi's voice say. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Uh. Slightly sore, but I'm okay," he replied.

As his group began undoing the nets, I thought to move in and help with the poles. The Loner stood above me and I noticed a hand cupped around his neck for a short while before he released it and got back to the nets. I contemplated on inquiring about his injury, but I decided against it and just tended to the rest of the equipment.

15 June 2004


	8. Chapter 8

**Skin-deep  
****©2007, 2010 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 08  
05 September 2007**

**

* * *

****On the previous chapter:** Sakura gets a little bit of insight into the person that is Syaoran as she is offered a ride—in which she had hesitantly accepted. In P.E. class, a competitive game of volleyball initiated by Kansuke saw Syaoran nursing a bruised jaw. For the first time, Sakura is unimpressed; and even feeling concern for Syaoran.

* * *

_**Location:**__ City streets  
__**Time frame:**__ Evening  
__**Point of View:**__ Syaoran_

I was not up for walking through busy streets this afternoon. Barely catching six hours of sleep from working a night shift yesterday, and an early morning shift I'd only finished about half an hour ago, I was willing myself to head home without the groceries. The sea of people going as far as I could see on this warm Saturday afternoon was something I always tried to avoid, but there was no other option for me this time; with my pantry and fridge depleted of food supplies from a busy week, trudging through this horrible Saturday afternoon traffic was unfortunately unavoidable.

_Kobayashi's Chinese Convenience Store_ was the destination I attempted to make steps towards. It was a small convenience store with a wide range of Chinese cooking ingredients and produce unmatched by any store I've gone into in the past. I saw its green and white sign ahead, but a group of young teenage girls made reaching it that much more difficult to reach. They wavered and slowed down often, tending to text messages that came into the cell phone of the centre girl. I was not normally a rude person who shouted their annoyances to those that annoyed them, but their wavering line and unpredictable speeds tested my patience. _"You are slowing all of us down from getting to where we need. Please go off to the side and finish tending to your text messages before coming back into this extremely busy traffic,"_ I had thought to say to them, but fortunate they were to evade such words from me when they turned into an arcade. I picked up pace and headed for the convenience store.

The door to the store was as usual already opened and I entered. Mr. Kobayashi, a man whose age I guessed was around about his sixties and could speak fluent Cantonese, was the owner of the store and he greeted me in the above said language upon my entrance:

"Ah, hello, Mr. Li."

I'd become enough of a familiar face to his store for him to know me by my name. He was by the service counter, restocking baskets of confectionery items.

"Good evening, Mr. Kobayashi," I greeted in Japanese. The conversation here on in was in this language. "How are you this evening? Has it been a busy day, today?"

"Busy, ah—it's been not too bad. How about you, Mr. Li? Busy at the petrol station?"

"The usual for a Saturday."

"I see. Very good. Well, please take a look around, Mr. Li."

"Thank you." I went around the well-lit, well-stocked store.

After going around the store for several minutes looking for the things I needed, I exited. The butchery was where I was going to head to next; and if I could last in this traffic, to the bakery after that.

I had only taken a step out when, amidst the bustling noise, some person called out to me. I stepped away from the main traffic. Out of people's way, I looked for this individual who'd called for me.

"Daidouji."

She smiled from her seat outside the ice cream parlour situated next door to _Kobayashi's Chinese Convenience Store_. She didn't sit alone enjoying the frozen beverage I saw below her on the table though, she sat with her friend Kinomoto who held her beverage to her face and had it turned away from me. Though my presence was unwanted by her, I greeted her nonetheless.

"Kinomoto."

Daidouji spoke:

"Hi, Li. It's surprising to see you here. Are you doing some shopping? I see you have some bags."

"Uh. For dinner."

"Not in a hurry, are you? Care to join Sakura and me for a bit?"

I caught the glare that Kinomoto gave her friend, but it was ignored. Kinomoto was then not subtle in her displeasure as she rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly in her annoyance.

Such rudeness, I didn't think it to be necessary, not within school or, as she had done so now, outside of the school arena. I find it naïve and excessive, taking too seriously the popular status she has and taking it everywhere. However, once more, this rudeness she had directed towards me I was not offended by. It mattered not a lot that she preferred I didn't join them, and so I motioned to decline. Daidouji, though, she pulled a seat out for me and said,

"Don't mind, Sakura, Li. Please take a seat. I want to have a chat with you since we rarely get the chance to at school. My friend, here, is just having one of her moody days, so I would just ignore her."

Kinomoto was immediate in her defence. "I am not having one of my moody days, Tomoyo. I am perfectly normal."

"Then if you are perfectly normal, you wouldn't mind Li joining us, then?"

Defeated by her friend, Kinomoto looked up at me and with falseness in her gesture, she said, "Please: do join, Li. My friend would like to have a chat with you."

Daidouji smiled, satisfied. "Okay, so now that Sakura has told she doesn't mind, please—sit, Li."

_Maybe I will for a short time_, I thought. As the junior camp trip was next week, I had some things to check with them, and so I nodded and took the seat Daidouji offered. The junior camp trip was the topic she chose to start with.

"So, Li, I noticed you signed up for the junior camp trips as well. Are you looking forward to it?"

"I am. You?"

"Very! How are you with packing for it?"

"I have finished, but I will do some final checks tomorrow to make sure I have everything. What about you both?" Kinomoto remained silent as Daidouji continued to reply to me:

"No, I'm far from finished; starting more like! I'm still deciding on what I should bring."

"The list the coordinators handed out shows you what you need to bring."

"I know, but I think the list missed out some things. Also, I think the list is a little off on the numbers of each item."

"It's five days and four nights, only on Thursday night are we out in the wilderness camping. The rest of the days we are accommodated in cabins. I think the number of each item listed on the list is sufficient."

"Mm, true, but I still want to be safe than sorry and bring more just in case."

"You will only need the bare necessities," I reiterated.

"Bringing extra things can't hurt—extra clothes, shoes, magazines, face and hand wipes, deodorants—things like that. They are all useful."

I do not converse with Daidouji that often as she had pointed out, but through observations from afar, I have found her to be a very sensible and logical individual. However, it seems she can be, at times, impractical in her ways of thinking.

"I see. I hope you will come to a solution," was what I offered in response.

She nodded. Pausing, she took a sip from her frozen beverage—an iced tea of sorts. "Yes, anyway, it's going to be an experience leading a group of juniors, isn't it? I'm kind of excited, but nervous at the same time. I've never actually led a group of young boys and girls before."

"Uh—a new experience for me, too, but Daidouji, you are Head Girl of the school. You are leading them everyday."

"True, but not as intimately. I hope they will find me a good camp leader."

"I do, too."

"How many girls and boys are in your group?"

I hadn't taken notice when I was assigned my juniors, but I recalled the names and counted in my head; then answered: "It's even—four and four."

"Oh, eight in your group as well? I've got nine—an extra boy. Sakura's got eight in her group, but there are more girls, right Sakura?"

Kinomoto had been playing with her cup which was now emptied of its contents. She looked up to answer, "Yeah," before she returned to it, drawing circles at the base with her straw. It was at this moment that when she looked unattended and bored I noticed her pink floral summer dress which radiated her beauty even more. She was a girl who could look beautiful even when she supported a look so plain. I softened at the sight and I thought I had better end this soon.

Daidouji had spoken immediately after Kinomoto responded. I hadn't missed any of what was spoken. I had turned my attention back to her sometime in the middle of her reply. Her full reply was:

"I guess I'm the only one with a group of nine students. Eriol's leading a group of eight as well."

"There are thirty-four students on this camp trip, so that would mean Kojima Natsumi would have nine also."

"Oh Natsumi has nine, too? Then you, Sakura, and Eriol are the lucky ones."

"Yes, it seems that way."

There was a pause in the conversation. I decided to enter my query now, briefly speak to Kinomoto, before announcing my leave. I said:

"The meeting place for Monday is at the train station by seven o'clock. It's outside the main entrance not inside?"

"Yes. Mr. Hisamatsu and the other coordinators will be there earlier than us, so look for him and you'll know you've got the right place." I nodded, understanding.

I turned my attention to Kinomoto who had moved away from her empty cup and now sat fiddling with the clasp of the bracelet she wore on her right wrist. "You have finished your drink. How was it, Kinomoto?"

She didn't fully look up; her eyes peered through her hair. "Good."

"It looked interesting. What was it?"

"It was a strawberry frappe."

"I see."

I believe I have tortured her long enough. It was time for me to take my leave.

"Well, thank you for the chat. I should head off. I have a couple of things left to get before the shops close. See you both on Monday."

"Yes, thank you for staying and speaking with us, Li," Daidouji replied. "We'll see you on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

"You too." I looked to Kinomoto when she hadn't answered at all.

"Yeah, see you Monday," she said in a curt manner.

* * *

It was almost six o'clock when I finally entered into my apartment with everything I had set out to get. I started dinner straight away and it had taken me fifteen minutes to have the rice cooking away in the rice cooker and the stir-fry simmering away in the wok.

Leaving them to do their jobs, there was finally a moment of downtime for me. I did the routine check of the phone and email inbox on my laptop for messages before I turned on the television. I watched with half an ear; for little of interest was on and therefore the apartment walls then became my focus of interest for some time, finding their blankness comforting.

A task has escaped me until now: the landlord has yet to know of my absence from the apartment next week and I needed to reschedule the Thursday inspection. I reminded myself to inform him tonight. I then looked around my apartment to inspect the amount of time I needed to get this apartment in good shape, for after a busy week, some house chores have gone undone: the apartment wasn't particularly substantial and it wasn't completely in disarray_—a few hours when I come back on Friday should do it_.

I had mentioned about my apartment not being particularly substantial—I will tell you it isn't: a one-bedroom apartment with the kitchen, dining, and living rooms all in one area; a bathroom with enough room for a shower cubicle and a bathroom vanity; and separate lavatory room. This entire apartment is only a little larger than my room back home. Small, yes, but I much preferred that it was so. It made moving between 'rooms' easier.

The view and location of the apartment is agreeable, too. It is on the third floor that looked out onto suburban streets, with a close proximity to my high school, my after school job at the petrol station, and shops. It means transport is never a problem for me as I could go anywhere I needed to within fifteen to thirty minutes by foot (I do own a car for travelling at distance, mostly to travel to the airport to pick up visitors). The rent is a little on the expensive side for its kind, but with the apartment being in a modern block and in a good neighbourhood, it is well worth it and I've been able to keep on top of it thus far.

I was alerted to the increasingly urgent sizzling sound of the stir-fry. I returned to the kitchen and reached for the wok chuan I had placed beside the cooking stove then tended to the stir-fry. A cloud of hot steam rushed towards me as I lifted the lid; I evaded it. Once cleared, my nose welcomed the pleasant aroma of Chinese sauces. I reached for a bowl with the final ingredient, the thickener, and added it to the stir-fry.

Suddenly, from across the room, consecutive high-pitched chirps alerted my ears. My attention moved towards my laptop sitting on the coffee table: incoming mail. Leaving the washing till later, I scooped the rice and food into a bowl each and took it across the kitchen to the lounge. I placed them both down onto the coffee table then sat down. Checking my inbox, I found an email that belonged to Meiling. I braced myself as I opened it. It read:

* * *

_Syaoran,_

_You seem to take longer than usual to reply to my letters and emails. Do you have a lot of assignments and tests that they have made you become a lot busier? Poor my hard-working cousin. Don't work yourself too hard, Syaoran!_

_Anyway, I will keep this kind of short. Jinwei and her family were invited over for Auntie's get-together the other day. Did you know Jinwei is actually a very good cook?—almost as good as me? I saw her in the kitchen helping Auntie cook, and she made this really delicious dish alongside Auntie, which everyone complimented on afterwards. Anyway, it looks like Auntie and Jinwei are getting on better and better day by day._

A dejected sigh escaped me. I read on:

_I've also been talking to her a bit more these days. We've spent several lunch times together and I've found that she is actually a nice person. Although you have objected to this since the beginning, I think you could give Jinwei a chance!_

_Your most favourite cousin in the world, _

_Meiling._

_P.S. Remember that I will be coming over to visit you during summer vacation we have coming up, so dust up that apartment and make room for me before I come, okay, Syaoran?_

_

* * *

_

Mother continues to persist in this matter. I'd made suggestions to her during our last phone call that I did not want such an arrangement to be made and she made acknowledgements to understand, but it appears they have been disregarded. I am at disbelief: several thousand kilometres between us seem unable to curtail Mother's desires and preferences she has for me.

I will have to deal with this later. I made a quick entry in my electronic calendar of Meiling's request before leaving this for another day, shutting my laptop down.

Background noise of the television set and the dim lighting calmed my troubled mind as I resumed dinner. The evening had suddenly turned wild: what was a pleasantly calm day had turned into a rather windy night as I heard the windows to the apartment and a few other things outside rattle against the wind's howl. Loud as it was, it soothed me.

What a way to get someone's attention and aggravate them at the same time! A high-pitched cartoon character had jumped out onto the television screen as it announced a new product with enthusiasm. The character—a humanised ice-cream cone—appeared on a colourful background with glittering stars, introducing a new range of frozen treats from the ice cream parlour Daidouji and Kinomoto spent their time at this afternoon. _"…Try the eccentric chocolate-banana twist; how about trying this sweet, seductive strawberry-raspberry frappe that will make you feel as delightful as the drink."_ The advertisement then ended with the character becoming inanimate, off to one side as the logo of the ice-cream brand occupied the rest of the space on the television screen.

Remembering the conversation with Daidouji, I thought about next week's camp trip. Indeed, I was looking forward to it, even excited. For the time I've been here, I've been only around the city, never outside of it. I've not had the opportunity to go out of town and tour around, take a break from school and work, so I saw this as a break. Indeed, this was a school trip, a lot of work will take place, but I would be able to be away from everything for one week. By 'everything', I mean the affairs from back home.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by the ringing of my phone. I moved to the table behind the couch and the caller display displayed an incoming overseas call. One may say that I have developed some sort of fear when the phone sounds and the caller display tells you it's an overseas call: I braced myself for news I might hear. I thought Meiling might have been on the other end, but when I picked up the handset and the familiar stern and authoritative voice came through, I stiffened. It was Mother.

"_Hello, Syaoran. It's not too late, is it?"_

"No, Mother. It is still early."

"_Good. How are you?"_

"I'm doing well, Mother. How about you?"

"_Yes, I'm well."_ Mother paused before she delivered the reason for the call. _"I want to let you know that I and the Wang's have organised for Jinwei to visit Japan during your school vacation. She said she'd love to see Japan for herself. I've discussed it with Meiling and she's agreed to allow Jinwei to accompany her."_

From the way Meiling had just sent her email, Meiling had either only agreed to this or she had left this out in her email. That small detail didn't matter. What mattered was this arrangement they had made was made without my input. I wasn't pleased at all and I sought to excuse myself from this obligation. I told my mother:

"I don't have room."

"_I'm sure you can make room."_

My mind was filled with many opposing words, but my vocal instrument seemed to have forsaken me as it left me silent.

"_It's settled then. Keep warm Syaoran."_

I pushed out a response through my objection. "Thank you, Mother."

"_Good bye, Syaoran."_

"Good bye, Mother."

The call ended. I placed the handset back onto the phone. I moved back to the lounging area, turned off the television, gathered the bowls from the coffee table and began cleaning up.

* * *

_**Location: **__Camp site  
__**Timeframe:**__ Monday  
__**Point of View: **__Sakura_

If the students thought the five hour train ride was challenging, then the three hour hike was something else. And it was. We, the camp leaders, have gone on this hike before, testing it out before today came, therefore knew what to expect, but the students hadn't. It was difficult for some to keep their spirits up on this hike, where some were at breaking point and wanted to stop all together.

No, it wasn't because these students were physically unfit or weak-minded. This hiking route, there were quite a number of demanding parts: steep hills and forests, narrow paths above bodies of water, uneven grounds, rivers, swamps, and marshes. Some students had trouble with the steepness of the hills, the grossness of the muddy swamps and marshes, and others had a fear of heights and hence found walking on edges of cliffs challenging.

Our leadership skills, then, had to be used effectively and efficiently. These were: supplying words of support and encouragement; using means of distraction to keep their minds off the activity such as chatting to them with topics like the activities they did over the weekend, classes they excelled in or enjoyed, crushes on classmates, and the likes; and streaming our strength and experience onto them.

For me, the hiking had been fine, but having said that, I had tired towards the end, that—and I could speak for all when I say—we were all relieved and overjoyed when we finally saw the farm paddocks and the cabin house. We were all ready for some R&R after such a long trip. The time that we arrived onto the camp site was a little after four-thirty in the afternoon.

This camp site was impressive. It was far-reaching, around the size of five sports fields. Trees (I do not know what types they were, but they were tall, skinny and had pine-like foliage) surrounded the perimeter of the property, acting as the property's fences with grassy land everywhere. On this large grassy patch of land, spread out far and wide, were the structures of camp activities: the Rock Climbing Wall, the Swinging Log, the High Wall, the Rope Bridge, the Jungle Gym, and the Flying Fox. There were a couple of leisure activities such as the trampoline and Hopscotch as well. Then on a concreted area, stood long and wide the cabin house to which housed the kitchen and dining hall that doubled as a meeting area. The cabin house reminded me of those seen in black and white photos of olden day houses in history books: it was wooden, simple, and dated; and white paint peeled off of the surface. There was a porch with steps also with a couple of weathered down chairs against the wooden ledges of the windows behind it. And then on either side of the cabin house were two smaller wooden cabins. They were the sleeping cabins: one for the girls and one for the boys.

If one looked beyond these, far off into the distance, large and extensive mountains overlooked the entire site. I will tell you now that those mountains were where our last night of camping was going to take place. Daunting or fun? I ask. I choose fun, imagining how much fun it would be to camp underneath stars and cooking and talking over a campfire with friends and the juniors. I saw it as a big outdoor party out in the wilderness. This was why I had wished Kansuke had signed up. There could be so many memorable moments that could have been had on this camp trip with him. Of course, he wasn't here and I could only imagine.

After introducing the property owners (the hosts) and then giving out instructions for the rest of the day, the students were allowed to look around the place for a bit. Like Eriol and Li, Tomoyo, Natsumi, and I first went to show our groups to their cabin to allow them to put their belongings there, look around, and then work out who was going to sleep where.

Now, I have to tell you, I've had the opportunity to look around both cabins before today, and I do say that I preferred the girl's cabin much more than the boy's: our bathroom was better than their's. It was larger; the walls and doors were newly painted in the most cheerful yellow; and our shower cubicles were more spacious and fitted with faster running showerheads.

The bunk room were similar to the boys, though: a top and bottom row on one wall of the cabin and four individual bunks on the opposite wall. As camp leaders, we each have the privilege of sleeping on those individual bunks. There being four of the individual bunks in each cabin, it meant that there were going to be some lucky people who would be able to have their own individual bunks. Over in the girl's cabin, one was unoccupied, and we decided that the lucky person would be decided with a flip of the coin. The last standing winner got to have the bunk. The boy's had two unoccupied ones and I heard that theirs were decided by the first two people to reach the Swinging Log.

Dinner was at five-thirty and was prepared by the hosts—a welcoming dinner party for us. The hosts had cooked a delicious three course meal: bread and cheese to start (to snack on), chicken cordon bleu with pasta and salad, or servings of salad, tofu, and a vegetable dish were on offer for those who had informed their camp leaders to be vegetarians for our main meal; freshly-squeezed orange juice and water as drinks; and chocolate ice-cream with fruits for dessert.

I sat with my group of students as did the other camp leaders. Two of my girls had gone to the bathroom. Meanwhile, three had gone up to the hosts for seconds of dessert, having ploughed through their dessert, explaining how yummy it was; and the other three continued to talk amongst themselves some seats away. This gave me time to observe the other camp leaders and their groups.

Tomoyo and Eriol were some tables over on the row I sat at and they asked the students about today's hike and the students had questions about the activities for tomorrow (orientation and abseiling). Their two groups had joined together with Tomoyo and Eriol at the outsides.

Natsumi and Li sat at the row of tables behind. Natsumi's group was two groups away from Li's, who sat at the table behind me. Li sat at the seat directly behind me. I listened to their conversation from time to time. Presently, there was a talk about an interest in model building from the boys as Li had asked them what they did for fun. Talks about cars then followed after one of the girls asked Li what he liked to do for fun. Cars were cool, but internet instant messaging chatting and shopping were better for them, the girls had told in response. That led the boys to comment about girls being too worried about their nails and prettiness to do manly things like fixing cars, and that stirred up the girls at the table. Li told the two sides that the activities were individually good and he led them off that topic to talk about movies, asking if they had seen any good ones, because he was looking to see one, but didn't know which one to watch.

As Li continued to interact with the students in his group, I began to wonder if he often talked to young people, because he seemed to be able to interact with them well. My view was that, if he was anti-social to peers in his year, he would be so with others. To say the least, I was amazed at how well he interacted with the juniors. And it seems they find talking to him fun, too: some time ago when I turned back to look around, I found several girls from Natsumi's group go up to him to have a conversation with him. They stayed there for quite some time that I had wondered what they were speaking about.

The three from my group who had gone for seconds had now returned cheerfully with their second bowls of ice cream.

"Lucky. Are those the last bowls?" I asked them.

"Oh no, there's, like, heaps left. Go get some, Miss Sakura," one of them answered and then went digging into their second bowls.

I laughed. "You three go slowly, okay? That probably is your last bowl, so savour it!" They moaned and I laughed once again.

"Is Miss Kojima Natsumi your girlfriend?"

That seemed to have been spoken loud in my ears. I didn't know if Natsumi heard her own name being spoken, but if I could hear it, I imagined she would be able to as well. Li's answer was no surprise to me since I know that there was no girl that was his girlfriend. "She's a classmate," he answered. The girls gasped, shocked by the answer. Each took turns to speak:

"You should ask her out. She's pretty."

I heard no response from Li. Maybe he'd given some gesture instead that had them asking—

"You, like, don't like her?"

Li avoided the question and he instead said—"There must be that one guy in your year or class you all find stands out for you. So, I want to know: who's that guy?"

"Nah, like, the guys in our year are, you know. There's no one that cool."

"Is that so?" Li asked.

"Yeah, totally, true!"

"Totally. I don't like anyone."

"No, no one."

"Nah, boys are strange. No, I don't like anyone."

The two girls from my group who had left to go to the bathroom returned. I told them that if they wanted a second bowl of dessert, they could go up to the hosts and ask for some. Like my other students, they were keen and immediately went for seconds.

I then resumed getting through my ice cream as I continued to listen to the conversation at Li's table. It had moved off onto another topic now. The conversation interested everyone. For the sake of saving time, I will simply refer to the unintroduced speakers as boy or girl with such reference being enough to follow the conversation.

"Anyway, Li, what are we doing tomorrow?" a girl said.

"Orientation in the morning. After lunch, it is a short hiking trip to go abseiling down some cliffs. You guys like abseiling?" Li asked them.

The boys seem to find it agreeable, but indecision about the activity came from a couple of the girls as some of them thought abseiling down cliffs a little frightening.

"What about water rafting down a river? We'll be doing that on Thursday. That sounds fun, doesn't it?" Li asked them.

"You, like, get went and stuff. That's bad," one girl said.

"That's bad," another girl said.

"We'd be going fast and be getting thrashed by water, right?" a boy said.

"At certain parts there will be some speed that will make water come into us, but nothing that is dangerous," Li answered.

"Cool!" the boys chimed whilst nervousness ran through the girls. I thought Li could have been a little better with his words when it seems this talk about Thursday's water rafting activity had made the girls uneasy. I wanted to head over to the girls and tell them that they didn't need to be scared and it is never ever shameful to admit one's weaknesses. It was unnecessary for me to do so, though, as Li was on the move to correcting the situation. With a speech that surpassed my own—words that were more articulate than what I would have come up with, he said to them:

"Girls, we won't force you to do anything that you aren't comfortable with doing, but I advise you—all of you—to give everything on this camp trip a go because these camp activities are there so you can experience and learn valuable skills from them. If you get scared, seek your group for support. We are all here to support each other. Your peers, the camp leaders, the teachers will be there to make sure each of you are safe. I will look out for all of you and make sure you all are safe. That's my job as camp leader, so please don't hesitate to come to me when you feel afraid or uncertain about something."

A little worried—yes, but the girls all calmed down after his words as they listened and agreed. They then moved onto talking about their melting bowls of tasty ice cream.

I returned my attention to my bowl of ice cream (also melted) and finished it off. I decided I wouldn't go for seconds as I thought to leave any left to the students. However, I fancied a drink, some tea, and grabbed my glass. I stood up and turned to make my way to the kitchen. It was at this time also that Li decided to stand up.

We bumped.

"Kinomoto, sorry," he said.

"No worries." He gestured for me to move off first with an indication of the hand. I nodded as a thank you and moved off first.

As Li followed behind, I was having an internal debate with myself about opening up a conversation with him. _Talk to the loner, don't talk to the loner. Go, speak. He's weird. I really don't want to talk to him. Do it!_

"More drink as well?" I said, turning back. I have no idea what will become of this, but I decided that if it gets too much, I will end it. I slowed down and allowed Li to catch up with me and walk beside me.

"No, cracked glass." He extended the glass and showed me the crack. It wasn't particularly thick, but it was lengthy—a crack that ran from the rim to about a couple of centimetres down the glass.

"How did that happen?"

"One of the students accidentally knocked it over."

Yes, I remember now that earlier there was a knocking down of glass onto wooden table coming from behind me.

"Oh."

We reached the kitchen bench. When he split from me to go give the damaged glass over to the hosts to dispose of it properly, I regathered strength, feeling drained from trying to talk to Li. Yeah, speaking to him was difficult for me. I just couldn't find a common ground with him, and yeah I might be a bitch or something, but I couldn't get over the icky feeling that I naturally get from being around him. I filled my glass with tea. I left to return to my seat, hopefully by myself, but Li left to return to his seat at the same time too, so it was another round of walking with him back to my seat (I couldn't get myself to be rude enough as to pace faster so he couldn't walk beside me). When we arrived at our seats, stressed to my limits, I was quick to part: "Anyway, back to my seat." I didn't wait for his reply and I prepared to sit down when he called me back.

"Kinomoto." He paused. He looked at me with a firm stare. "I am looking forward to working alongside you on this camp trip."

I just nodded. I returned to my seat. There, I thought: I agreed with what Li had tried to express. As much as I found it difficult to be around him, I told myself that I have to try and put my personal dislike of him aside and work with him. I decided: from now on, for this week, I was going to see him as a colleague—one that I didn't particularly like, but could act professionally towards.

Dinner finished by six-thirty. Trivial pursuit was planned for the rest of the night before supper at a little before nine. After turning out the lights, the girls were still energetic, even from the long travelling and hiking, whereas I was beat. Tomoyo, Natsumi, and I allowed them to spend half an hour talking to each other, before I told them all to go to sleep. The popular topic of conversation was unsurprisingly about boys. However, surprisingly though, was that Li's name was rolling on a lot of their lips and it was linked with words like 'cool', 'fun', and 'hot'.

© 05 September 2007


	9. Chapter 9

**Skin-deep  
****©2007 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 09  
04 November 2007**

* * *

******On the previous chapter:** Sakura continues to be unaccommodating; but persistent in his ways, Syaoran tries to get her to talk at the ice-cream parlour through small-talk. However, she continues to be distant. Heading home, he is greeted by an e-mail and a phone call from back home, informing of his summer vacation plans—in which he has little control over in changing. But before summer vacation, the week of junior camps is here.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Camp site  
__**Time frame:**__ After lunch  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

My body shivered against the cold wind that had blown past me—quite a change from what the wind was this morning. It was warm and it was the perfect temperature for water rafting. That's right; water rafting was this morning's thrilling activity that we had participated in.

It was one of those activities that was introduced to bring about team-building and problem-solving skills, one that required everyone on board to work together to navigate the challenges of the rapids; and it certainly achieved its intended purpose. Once out there, there was no choice but to work together. I still remember the look of the frightening (but magnificent) white waters, as well as the loud and rumbling sound of the rushing water; I couldn't remember a time when I was more terrified—yet at the same time, I've never felt such thrill in my life. No doubt was water rafting the most exhilarating and adrenaline-inducing activity I've ever done! Next time I plan something outdoors in nature, I will have to remember to try it again.

And so, it was a perfect morning of camping—emphasising the word 'was': the warm embrace that was present in the wind of the morning had surely dropped to a surly graze. Looking at the sombre clouds overlooking the fields, I wouldn't be surprised if it started raining. Still, cold as it was and as ugly the skies were getting, I wouldn't go inside and miss the scenery for anything.

As I lay resting my back against the pole that connected to the veranda, I leisurely stared out into the open field. Happy students played on some of the activities that had been set out for yesterday afternoon's orientation course, the swinging log and the rock-climbing wall, and others spent the free time on the mega-sized trampoline on the property.

This was great. Unlike the previous day where we had several activities to get through, the only activity planned for today was this morning's water rafting. The remainder of the afternoon was left for all of us to do as we pleased. The tone of this evening was more or less the same tone, as light-hearted outdoor games were planned for tonight before retiring for the day. I still hadn't really recovered from yesterday's full schedule, so I was definitely not going to object to the relatively slower day.

My thoughts were suddenly broken by the clearing of someone's throat. I moved my attention behind to where the sound had come from: it was Li who had signalled for my attention. He was holding a mug and was gesturing that what he had in his hand was for me.

"I thought you might like this," he said.

Not minding a warm drink, I accepted it. As I reached for it, a stream of pain suddenly travelled from my shoulders to my head; I hissed in reaction to the negative sensation—

"That's painful," I expressed to myself aloud.

The aching shoulders that had developed from yesterday's rock climbing and abseiling—and most likely from the added strain of today's water rafting activity—reminded me that it had yet to dissipate and I should not agitate it again—at least not until it had some time to heal.

Providing some sort of relief to it, I cautiously tried massaging it as I took the drink from Li.

"Shoulder pains causing you some trouble?" he queried.

"Just a bit." I then opted to leave it alone: time will just have to heal it. I took a sip from the mug. "Thanks," I said. Li nodded in acknowledgement. He seated himself next to me. I asked, "Is Hana okay? She looked a little worse for wear after that misstep in the hills."

Hana was one of the students in Li's group. While coming back from water rafting, she had managed to hurt herself, tripping over several branches on the ground, causing a few others in front to lose their footing also. Fortunately, the others hadn't fallen over like Hana did, and the accident had only inflicted minor injuries on her, gaining a few grazes to the knees and a couple of sore wrists.

"She's fine; just feeling embarrassed about the whole incident."

"She shouldn't be embarrassed."

"We told her that, too."

"That's good that she's okay, though."

"Uh."

Silence filled the next few moments as I took another sip of the hot chocolate. It was a good mug of hot chocolate, I had to say. Something about this and how he had made it was addictive.

"How did you make this?" I decided to ask.

He seemed puzzled by the question as his reply was delayed and broken: "Ah, the usual—cocoa and milk." He paused then added, "And a little sugar as well—Why?"

"It's nice."

He seemed pleased as he smiled; then said, "Good, I'm glad."

Another quiet moment passed.

"That trampoline looks kind of fun, don't you think?" I heard Li suddenly say.

I looked in the direction to where the trampoline was, to where his eyes had laid: two students appeared to be competing with one another—probably competing to see who could jump the highest as I saw them go higher with each subsequent jump.

"Yeah," I replied, "They seem to be having a lot of fun."

But as I continued to watch the students play this fun game, it looked like it was getting to a point where it looked dangerous: each time they came back down, their landing seem to be more and more unstable; legs seem to be unsteady, shaky, and unbalanced beneath their weight, causing them to propel into the air at odd angles.

It seems Mr. Hisamatsu had seen what I had seen as I saw him approach the students on the trampoline. I couldn't hear the exchange of words between them all, but the body language of Mr. Hisamatsu told me that he was saying something along the lines of toning it down; and the students were doing as they were told as I saw their jumps becoming less dangerous and more stable.

Li's sudden amused chuckle entered my ears. Puzzled to what had warranted the chuckle, I turned my attention towards him: his attention was still on the scene with the students on the trampoline; it was this scene that had amused him. I looked back to the students at the trampoline, but still I couldn't find what was so amusing about it. I soon caught on though, as I saw the jumps the students were doing becoming more ridiculous: their movements were somewhat spastic as they propelled into the air.

I chuckled also; Li looked at me and then smiled before looking back out into the fields. I couldn't understand the reason for that smile, nor could I understand why he had looked. I stopped immediately.

I'd never had an ache that was this persistent. It started to complain again and as I tried to alleviate it with a tilt of my head forward, a sharp pain shot up to my head, inducing a sharp headache. I hissed at the pain and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I heard that there's a good technique that relieves shoulder pains," Li said.

"There is?" I was open to any and all ideas that might rid a pain that'd been gnawing at me from the moment I woke up.

"You find the point in the upper trapezius muscle—the part of the muscle that runs across the shoulders—and press on it hard enough to relieve the ache. I've seen it done and people say it's quite effective." He paused. "Here: may I?"

He had gestured with his hand to allow him to show me. I was in indecision for some time before I uttered, "You… want to…?"

"Uh—turn around," he instructed.

I was hesitant, but I eventually listened to him and turned around. I was self-conscious as he went to find the point, the point in the trapezius muscle—wherever that was: every sound and every object I lay my focus on came to my attention crisp and clear, and my eyes couldn't stay focused on one thing. I decided to stop moving my eyes about and just focus on the forest of tall rigid pine trees in the distance.

"Relax," Li said. "It works much better if you relaxed."

I tried to do as he asked. And then, a moment more, there was the feeling of release and alleviation. My shoulder aches were disappearing.

"How are the shoulders feeling now?"

"Mm, good."

I couldn't help further indulge in the sensation. Li began to move his hands rhythmically, making circular motions with his thumbs. I indulged even more, my senses now focused solely on the sensation. It had begun in the shoulders; then through to my arms; then to the heart of me; before travelling through to the rest of my body.

I didn't know how long I indulged in it, but I realised it was much too long when my mind supplied me with an image of me sitting at this wooden cabin on the veranda with eyes closed enjoying Li's massage. I snapped my eyes open and my head back up. Any feelings of pleasure were immediately replaced by the feeling of embarrassment. I wanted to bring the situation back to one that I could handle, and I racked my brain desperately for words that would, but I had nothing to explain it all. In the end, I just remained still and silent until Li returned to his seat.

"Hopefully, that has made it a little better," he said. I kept my eyes towards the ground, nodding to him. He nodded to himself: "I guess the technique works. I'll have to use it the next time people come to me complaining of having aching shoulders." Again, I nodded, feeling much too embarrassed to respond with anything more than that.

Silence fell again. That cold wind that I disliked earlier was now very much welcomed as it provided a cooling touch on my burning cheeks. For the remainder of the time, I didn't dare myself to look at what Li was doing or think about what he might be thinking.

* * *

O O O O O

* * *

The relaxing day yesterday, and the fulfilling breakfast this morning courtesy of Eriol's group, allowed everyone to set out for the hills energised and ready for our last activity before we headed back home—the last activity being: the good old camping out in the wilderness! There was to be no cabins with bunks to sleep in; no bathroom to shower and groom in; and neither would there be a nice kitchen with electricity to cook in. All of what we had done with in the past three days and nights would have to be done without for the remainder of this camp trip; we were going to survive without such luxuries. Camp food, fire, sleeping bags and tents, and nature were the only things we were going to survive in and with for one night.

What fun!

My group was thrilled when I announced that we had finally arrived at the camp site after three hours of walking with only one small break to allow us all to regain our strength and to refuel ourselves. Like all walking tracks, there were challenging parts such as steep grounds, slippery surfaces, and narrow walkways, but the students I had spoken to during the walk hadn't found it too strenuous or difficult and had more or less found it enjoyable.

Arriving at the site—a rather open area with few shrubbery but consisted of a forest of tall trees—the teachers and property owners were of course already at the site as they went by car, but surprisingly, I found that both Eriol and Li's group were already there and had apparently already finished setting up as I saw that all their tents were erect and areas were all laid out—neat and organised; Tomoyo's group was also there, but they appeared to be just settling in as I saw them still in the midst of putting their tents up; and Natsumi's group: yeah, also there—her group's tents also almost up.

So everyone had made it to the camp site before my group had. We were the last to arrive. In my mind, I heard myself express a chuckle: I was so sure that I would come at least second with the great navigation skills I pronounced myself as having before setting off—I guess not!

"Hey guys!" I greeted them.

Tomoyo was the closest to me, seeing me first: "Sakura—your group finally made it!"

"Hey, garden snail," Eriol teased from his seated position. He was casually setting up the 'kitchen' area as I saw a pot in his hand and a large empty can by his feet. Scrunching my face, I frowned in response to his teasing. Tomoyo chuckled.

"We didn't take as long as Eriol makes it sound, did we?" I asked Tomoyo.

"Nah," she said waving that thought away. "They arrived only five minutes before us and it's only been ten or so minutes after that before you got here."

"Well, that's good then."

Keen in making a start on actually camping, I turned to my group and gave instructions: "Okay, let's get started: we'll get the tents up first and then set our camp area out. After that, we can have a little rest before starting dinner—yeah?"

"Yeah!" they chimed.

Five hours flew by fast as night fell. Dinner was still in progress as I took the position of spectator and supervisor to my group's handling of tonight's dinner.

My group had fun with our camp stove which consisted of a large tin can, burning twigs and whatnots to keep the fire going as food cooked.

"Don't get too close to the fire, guys," I warned, having seen those feeding the fire become a little too daring; fingers becoming only inches away from the flames. They heeded to my warning as they fed twigs from a distance further back.

Unlike the camp trips in the past years when the students had to plan their own dinners (like I had when I was a junior), things changed and everyone's dinner consisted of the same foods: chicken, roasted vegetables, and a noodle casserole. I suspect the other groups were more or less at the same point as we were with chicken and vegetables already cooked, and the noodle casserole the only thing left to cook. Judging by the progress, dinner was just a few minutes away.

It was a calm night tonight. I looked up to find an almost cloudless night sky above us, seeing only a couple cirrus clouds in the distance interrupt what would have been a clear night sky; and the crescent moon and the stars were glowing magnificently bright tonight. There was still the odd bird chirps in the distance, a slight breeze saw the leaves rustle, and of course, the gentle crackle of wood burning of our campfires were heard. I couldn't have asked for a better setting than what was present for camping out tonight.

My attention was led back to the campfire by one of my students calling for me. Chizu, a polite and enthusiastic girl, asked—

"Sakura, can you check the noodles—is it done?"

I took the fork she held in her grasp as I gave the noodles a stir then lifted a couple strands in the air to see its texture. I nodded and said,

"It's cooked. Get your plates, everyone. We'll scoop this in each of your plates and then placed the vegetables and chicken on top. We're all hungry, right?" All nodded then passed their plates over to me as I began scoop dinner onto each of their plates.

We'd spent half an hour chowing down our delicious food and another ten minutes cleaning and tidying up before we moved to the main camp fire at the centre of the vicinity to join the other groups for dessert—dessert being, once again, roasted marshmallows and chocolate. Everyone did not mind a repeat and I certainly didn't mind. I could never get sick of roasting marshmallows. I found that putting together a very thin layer of melted chocolate with a marshmallow was one delicious combination! After this part of the night, it was not too particularly appealing anymore—well—at least it wasn't appealing for me as my desire to stay at the camp fire was gone when they began to tell the kind of stories that made me shut my ears tight, retreat to the nearest shelter, away from everyone, and hope not to ever hear them! The kind of stories I was talking about were ghost stories.

I didn't understand why in settings like these, in the darkness, at nights, and—in this instance—in the middle of a forest where the only people around were those here, people had to tell ghost stories. I detest them, to a point where I wished they never existed! I tried to stay for at least the first one, but I couldn't. I left in the middle of that story as it became unbearably scary. I quietly told Tomoyo that I was going to clean up some more things back at my group's camp area as a reason to leave the group, but she, being my best friend who knew me inside out, knew the real reason to why I was leaving and gave me a couple of books and magazines she had bought along to pass the time.

I did enjoy being inside our group's tent with the stretch torch on, reading the novel about romance much more than ghost stories. I was engrossed in the world created in the novel that I flew past the first three chapters. I found the story so captivating that I was annoyed when I was disturbed.

"Kinomoto?"

The voice was quiet-spoken and muffled, but I knew who was on the other side of the tent. The thing that puzzled me, however, was the reason for his visit.

I kept a track of my place in the book with the bookmark that Tomoyo had left in there and motioned to unzip the tent door to answer the visitor. "Li: what is it?"

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm reading a book."

Through the small tent door, I saw his eyes flick to the book that I had gestured to be reading. He then took a seat on the ground, back facing the tent—to my annoyance. He made himself even more comfortable, draping his arm over his bent knees. He turned to me.

"How's the book so far?"

"I'm getting into it."

His head cocked to the right, his unruly, brown hair flipped to that side. I wondered what he was doing. I understood when he said, "It's a romance novel."

Even though there wasn't a particular tone in his speech when he made that observation, the thought of being in possession of a romance novel made me want to try and hide the book from sight. My mind, however, told me otherwise: _being a romantic is not shameful_, and then it ordered me to leave my hand and the book where it was.

"You like reading romance novels?" Li asked.

"Well… I like this one."

He didn't say anything after that; just nodded. Many silent moments passed.

He sat stock-still. Forgetting about getting back to reading my book for a moment, I became curious to his presence. Had it not been for the slight movements in his back and shoulders, I could have easily mistaken him for a statue. Be as it was, he didn't look or feel as rigid as one, as he looked relaxed and at ease. It took me a couple of moments more before I sensed something virtuous radiating from his presence, his aura.

I'd thought he was here to be a bother, until Realisation struck me: Was he here because he was keeping me company? I was cut off from my thoughts when Li began.

"That guy…"

And then he stopped. I waited for him to continue as his attention went to fixate onto the pitch darkness beyond. I found nothing comforting looking in that direction—more frightening than comforting, really. A moment more and he resumed again, but he hadn't continued with what he had started.

"That book, I think my cousin has read it before. I remember it very well because my cousin blew my head off when she thought I wasn't listening to her; then demanded that I listen with both ears. She said that she liked the story because it was filled with "juicy" drama and "sweet" tension—I think those were the words she used to describe it."

"It's good so far. I won't be able to get to those parts yet, so I think I'm going to ask Tomoyo if I can borrow it to finish it over the weekends. This is Tomoyo's book," I explained.

"Uh, it took my cousin a month to finish it. She skims because she's impatient and her impatience makes her miss details. Meiling thinks she can shortcut everything, but it ends up taking twice as long."

_So Meiling is his cousin_, I thought as I remembered hearing it the time he gave me a ride to school. It's not his girlfriend as I had first thought. I quickly returned back to the book when Li caught me in thought.

"How juicy is it?" I clarified. "How juicy does the story get?"

He chuckled at my question. "It will ruin the ending if I told you. You'll have to read through to the end yourself. However, judging from what my cousin said, you'll find it good."

It was at this point that I heard footsteps and chatter. I assumed it was time for bedtime and my group was returning back from the camp fire. Li confirmed my assumption: "Looks like it's time for bed."

"Yeah."

"It's goodnight then."

"Mm. Goodnight."

He got up and brushed the dirt of his pants before he looked through the tent and said to me, "Sleep well."

"Mm. Sleep well," I returned. He nodded once more then left.

The boys and girls came into the tent and climbed into their sleeping bags, energetic and chatty. All were discussing about how sad that it was the last night out here. I felt the same, too. I had enjoyed my time out here with my friends and the juniors. And, (I admit) I didn't mind having Li out here, too. Though I wouldn't go as far as declaring how cool, hot and fun Li was, like the girls did, he wasn't half-bad: he was a good camp leader, good with the juniors, cared genuinely about them, and… he was thoughtful. It was nice of him to come and check up on me to see if I was alright.

With the day's hiking and camp activities, I was fast drifting off to sleep. There was still quiet chattering amongst the juniors in the tent. I told them to start thinking about getting some sleep to rest well for tomorrow's (shorter) hike back to the cabin house. My last thought before fully falling asleep was the conversation with Li. _That guy_, he had started saying. Who was _that guy_ and what had he wanted to say about _that guy_? He never did finish that.

© 04 November 2007


	10. Chapter 10

**Skin-deep  
****©2007 By Julia and Tania  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 10  
16 November 2007**

* * *

**On the previous chapter:** When the week's camp activities leave Sakura with shoulder pains, Syaoran's offer to relieve it with a technique not tried before by him, Sakura lands herself in an uncomfortable situation. Another meeting on the last night of camp finds Sakura realising Syaoran to be somewhat of a thoughtful guy.

* * *

_**Location:**__ School field, sitting on top of a tree  
__**Time frame:**__ Morning recess  
__**Point of View:**__ Syaoran_

Before classes resumed again, morning recess of a brief fifteen minutes was in progress at the moment. For the general school population, it was a time where the students seized upon the opportunity to stretch their legs, play a short game, or sit down and talk with friends. I, however, saw it as an opportunity to do some studying and revision of school work.

Understanding the material previously set for my classes has always been important to me. If I wanted to get into a prestigious university and continue studying abroad, I needed to put in a bit of sweat to achieve and maintain the grades expected of these universities. But my studying during recess was not only derived from my desire to maintain my grades; the truth was the time available to study had not come in abundance lately.

The entire week I had either been scheduled for work at the petrol station, or at the panel beaters, doubling the amount of hours I normally worked. Although I welcomed the extra money which paid for the expensive monthly rent, it had come at the expense of my studies.

With my previous class ending a little earlier than usual today and the sun beaming, I thought to take my studies outside to soak up a bit of sunshine. Sitting up in the tree that was still my place of solitude, I sat reading and working through a few of the examples in my physics textbook. The chapter on rotation and torque was the class' current topic and despite losing a week's revision time, I found it straightforward. During my extended recess I was able to get through the entire chapter with little difficulty; I was even able to finish off a neglected portion of the previous. Perhaps working with cars and being surrounded by people who were mad about them had its advantages after all.

Confident that I had absorbed enough information to ace a test—were the teacher to set one tomorrow—I packed up my school work before reclining myself against the trunk of the tree to finish off the last of the sushi I had in a container. For a few moments I blankly stared into the distance, focusing on nothing in particular, until a group playing a casual game of rugby caught my attention.

Running with the ball was the guy that Kinomoto liked so much. He stuck out like a guy without a shirt—literally. The temperature was barely twenty degrees and he had already taken off his shirt: obviously this was not because of the heat, but for those non-existent stares he thinks he's getting from the girls out on the field. What a complete and total wanker. Sometimes the degree of arrogance and self-admiration that this guy had surprises even me.

What did Kinomoto see in this guy? All he's ever done for her was get her drunk and wandering the streets in the middle of the night, leaving her vomiting and crying over a gutter. When was she going to realise that he was nothing more than an egotistical bastard who was only interested in looking out for number one? She could do a hundred times better than this poor excuse for a man.

"Hey, You: could you get that?"

Instinctively I looked below. There the rugby ball lay. Ashida, who was not more than ten or so metres from me, obviously decided he'd save a bit of walking by asking me to get down from my tree and fetch it for him. It seems he was not only a poor excuse for a man, but also lazy.

Looking at the time on my cell phone, I figured that I had probably less than a minute before the bell went for our school assembly. I should head off. Grabbing my bag which hung off another branch, I made my descent to the ground. Although the ball was on my way, I had no intention of heeding to his request; I walked straight past the ball and him.

"What a loser; this guy can't even pick up a ball," he bellowed out to his rugby mates, attempting to steal a bit of face from me.

I turned to look squarely at him, "Look, what's your problem?" 

He proceeded to invade my space: "You," he stated, as if he had come up with the cleverest retort in all of human kind.

"You're not worth my time; get out of my way."

"What if I don't?" he challenged. Internally, I rolled my eyes and continued walking as he bellowed out some more of his nonsensical babble: "Come on, give me your best shot…

"I knew you were all talk and no walk, Loser."

…_Fortunate for you. Y__ou would have lost had you gone up against me, Ashida_.

* * *

_**Location:**__ School hall  
__**Time frame:**__ Late morning  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

Today was Tomoyo's fashion show—at least that's what I liked to call it. Ever since Tomoyo's entrance into the textiles class five years ago, she has amazed the teachers and everyone else that lay witness to her artistic, one-of-a-kind designs. Comments about her being some sort of sewing machine prodigy were made some years back: no one had seen a fourteen-year-old girl work the sewing machine like she did; and her designs and creativeness: it was "out of this world".

Not only that, every year since then, she has been a successful candidate in the regional high school fashion show held in town; and last year she was the winner of the 'up-and-coming young designer of the year' award. There was no doubt that this year she was going to bring home a truck-load of awards again. Because of all this success, she has always been and will always be regarded as the star fashion designer at our school.

So, although today's fashion show featured designs from many of the school's best fashion design students, with all her accolades outside its confines, clearly, this was Tomoyo's show.

In place of the usual senior students' school assembly, the fashion show took its place. Today, I was not standing at the front of the hall along with my fellow prefects, watching on at the rest of the senior students; today I was moving through them, dressed in Tomoyo's latest and greatest. Today, I temporarily relinquished my prefect title for the title of Tomoyo's fashion model.

Positioned about a foot or so above, I made my way along the makeshift platform that was constructed for the specific occasion. A few hundred pairs of eyes sitting on bench chairs on either side had converged to focus on my presence. Had I not been doing this for the past four years, I would have felt rather nervous and a little self-conscious, but being not the case, this was nothing to me. I felt as calm and as confident up on the catwalk as I would be had I been anywhere else. In fact, I liked the attention.

"Sakura! …Yeah!" I suddenly heard.

Flicking my eyes across the direction of the cheers was Kansuke and his friends. My lips tugged upwards at the corners in response to their boisterous cheers. Reaching the end of the catwalk, I struck my best pose just for them; more cheering and whistling followed, this time from more of the audience. What satisfaction I felt; never had I imagine I'd get such a great reception from the audience. Even as I left to return to backstage in Tomoyo's final design, I could still hear them continuing to shout out my name and whistling.

Upon returning to backstage, a rather flushed Tomoyo stood waiting. Still, despite having worked many long days and nights preparing for the fashion show, her greeting sounded as energetic as ever, "Great job, Sakura!"

"Thanks Tomoyo," I responded, still pumped up by the audience outside, "That was some show, eh!"

"The show's a success because of you, Sakura," she stated simply, "You make my clothes look good."

Having sat down in a chair in front of a mirror, I sharply turned around to face Tomoyo at the inaccuracy of her comment, "Are you kidding me! Tomoyo, it's your incredible designs that make me look good, not the other way round."

"Thanks, Sakura," she said in her soft, modest voice.

I turned back around to face the mirror and began undoing the side of my hair which wasn't attended to by Tomoyo. "You're going to be such a famous fashion designer one day," I said to her. Again, the modest designer's reflection smiled. "When you get famous, Tomoyo, don't forget us little people down here, okay?"

"Thanks Sakura. But you know, if I ever get famous—"

"…_when_ you get famous…" Again she responded with a smile at my interjection before continuing—

"You know you're coming with me. I can't possibly do a show without my star model."

I smiled, but inwardly, I was in contemplation: her answer had sent me off into a brief muse over something I hadn't considered before; over the prospects of me becoming a professional, full-time fashion model. For the many years I've been Tomoyo's fashion model, such a career choice never even crossed my mind. Being uncertain of where I wanted to be, I just figured I'd end up in law or maybe economics—they seemed like common, stable career options, so my subject choices revolved around those areas.

I moved to stare at my own reflection, at the beautiful silk dress I was wearing and the beautifully done make-up that I had on. How strange would it be were I to end up a fashion model?—I'd be following in my late mother's footsteps. In her life time she was a model. I didn't know it from first hand experience (since she passed away when I was only a child), but looking at her photos, I can tell why she was one. She had such delicate and soft features that radiated her beauty and innocence. I hope that, if I do end up choosing modeling as my profession, I've inherited enough of my mother's good looks to try making it as a fashion model.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Calculus class  
__**Time frame:**__ Afternoon  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

"Hey Sakura," a familiar male voice called for me. "You were one hot babe up on stage," he continued.

"K-Kansuke…" I felt my face heat up upon seeing him approach my desk. "Thanks, I'm glad… you enjoyed the show." Damn, I sounded so retarded! I hope he didn't notice my stutter.

It was at this moment I also noticed Li's entrance. For some reason, his presence also made me uncomfortable; I felt myself wanting to hide from his gaze. But then I realised of all the expressions I had expected from him, it wasn't the one he had on. For the briefest of seconds, I watched him with curiosity: his brows were furrowed, seemingly bothered by something; his eyes were looking in my direction, but apparently they were not directed at me; and then the frown wiped away to show a smile. I softened my frown and felt a corner of my lips twitch in response to his confusing display.

"Aw yeah…" I heard Kansuke speak, "With such a hot chick like you in the show—how could I not?"

There was that word again: Kansuke really thinks I'm hot. My five years of being Tomoyo's model finally got his attention. Suddenly my throat began to tighten; my throat drying. I wanted to speak, to say something in response to his compliments, but nothing came to me; all I could do was stare at him. What a sexy smile he had; and those blue eyes—they seemed to flicker like pretty gems.

Then, even before I had realised what I wanted to say, my body had already begun reacting. My heart began to beat, picking up speed as a rush of light-headedness overcame me. It was now or never. Summoning up the courage, I began to ask him out:

"Umm… Kansuke, I wa—"

"Kansuke, c'mon… what are you doing over here?" My heart suddenly broke in half as I snapped towards the feminine arms that was wrapping around Kansuke's torso.

"Hello angel-face. Not much, I was just telling Sakura how good she was in assembly today."

"Come back over here," she said, seductively, dragging him closer into her body.

This was the same girl I saw at Eriol's place, the same girl I saw Kansuke play with the spaghetti strap of her top: her name?—Hisa. I guess they hooked up after all.

"Sakura," I heard Hisa call, snapping me out of my thoughts. "What's up with you? Are you alright?"

I had no idea what she was referring to: as far as I knew, I was alright. Suddenly, I saw her develop a very dangerous-looking smile, and I knew, from that smile, that whatever was going to come out of her mouth, it was not going to be pleasant.

"You look a little red, girl…"

_Oh no, she wouldn't dare…_

"…You're not crushing over my man, are you?"

_She did. That B—_

Internally, I bit my tongue, refraining from finishing the sentence. But soon after that, my annoyance quickly restored to embarrassment, feeling the heat intensify as I realised that Kansuke had just heard about my feelings for him second-hand. I could hardly move and began to feel light-headed; I didn't want him to know like this.

Forcing myself to pull together, I set my embarrassment aside and denied it with vigour, "No—of course not!"

"Although, I wouldn't blame you if you did," the girl continued—her voice full of conceit, "he's such a hunk..." Then she moved in close to him; I felt my eyes twitch as she kissed him deeply and passionately.

"Who at this school _doesn't_ have a crush on him?" Hisa finished off after breaking away from that kiss.

Done with her performance, she moved to stand in front of him and shot me a glare that suggested for me to stay away from him. Then as fast as she had changed from "pleasantness" to total nastiness, she changed to sweetness just as quickly—"So Kansuke, should we take our seats?"

Sporting a wide grin, apparently unperturbed by Hisa's rude treatment towards me, he walked away with his hands around her waist:

"Bye," Kansuke said then they waddled away in synchonised steps; flirting with each other like there was no tomorrow. A feeling of anger—or was it jealousy had brewed. Whatever it was, I was left watching them leave as I felt this incomprehensible feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.

* * *

_**Location:**__ School grounds  
__**Time frame:**__ Late afternoon  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

"That bitch totally called me up on it— in front of Kansuke! Can you believe that, Tomoyo!"

The school day was over and Tomoyo and I were heading over to her house to get some alterations done to a few of the fashion pieces that didn't quite work today. Two hours had passed by and I was still very much affected by the whole Kansuke-Hisa situation. I was still a little embarrassed, but I felt angry more than anything: sitting behind that nasty, snooty, bitch for two hours, staring at her bony back only fuelled my anger even more; and Tomoyo, being the good sport that she is, was my unfortunate release valve.

"Ooh! I can ask Eriol to get some toads…"

"Toads?" I asked, confused. What possessed Tomoyo to think about those disgusting creatures? "Why would I need some toads?"

"Yeah, Sakura—I could get Eriol to get some and then when Hisa's not looking, we can sneak them into her bag! When she opens her bag and sees them—" her eyes seem to get brighter and brighter as she spoke, lips lengthening into a devilish grin, "It'll be great, Sakura. That would so get her back!"

Seeing the excitement exert from Tomoyo, it took me next to no time to sign up and agree to this plan of hers. I'll admit, maybe it was a little childish of me to stuff live, slimy amphibians into her bag, but what she did, I just couldn't let it go; she was so proud of herself; she was so stuck-up.

Turning to face my best friend, I enquired the possibility of executing such a plan, "Where would he get these toads from?"

"Eriol has his ways. He's quite resourceful."

Out of nowhere I felt a weight on my shoulders, followed by a pungent smell of sweat that stung my nose. Instinctively, I jerked away from the source of the smell, but not far enough to escape an aural assault on the ear drums:

"Yes I am!"

It was Eriol. He had come up from behind to drape his arms over the both of us, his breathing heavy and more drawn out than usual.

"What are you doing here?" Tomoyo enquired with surprise, "I thought you had soccer practice."

"Mm hmm," he affirmed. He continued in between laboured pants, showing us an empty water bottle, "I was going… to get some water." He then poked his head between the two of us, looking at each of us in turn, "So, girls, what were you two after?"

"First of all, do you mind getting off us? You kind of smell…" Tomoyo requested.

Immediately, he stepped back from us, "Oh, sorry girls."

"No worries, dearest," Tomoyo then pulled out a clear bottle filled with water and handed it to him, "Here."

"Oh thanks, Tomoyo. You're a life saver!" Eriol passed the empty one in his hand to Tomoyo to hold onto before taking the one she offered.

Not even bothering to try drinking from it, he unscrewed the sipper from the bottle neck, and began emptying it. Loud audible gulps could be heard as he quickly lapped it up.

"So, we were wondering, could you get your hands on a couple of toads?" Tomoyo carried on as Eriol finished the last of the water.

Screwing the sipper back on, his brows knitted together before raising one of them: "Thinking of turning them into princes and leaving me, Tomoyo?"

_Princes and toads…_ _clever_, sarcastically I thought.

Eriol was this type of person, always playing around. Okay, so he doesn't _always_ play around; he can be quite serious at times, but the amount of times he is serious, he is twice that amount kidding around. Tomoyo, being his exact equal, always managed, and was very capable of talking back:

"That's girls business. It's for us to know, and for you… to never know. So never you mind what we're doing with them," Tomoyo jested, standing akimbo.

He moved his attention to me, obviously searching for the answer to our intentions that Tomoyo refused to offer him: "Sakura?"

"Nothing much," I said just as firmly, "…just wondering if you could get maybe… two or three for us. That's all."

His eyes moved between mine and Tomoyo's as if he was still trying to suss it out for himself—not that he needed to. Tomoyo told him everything. When they got home tonight, I'm sure she was going to call him and update him on everything.

"Alright girls," he said finally and simply.

"Great! Thanks, Eriol," I said, over the moon.

"Wait, not yet. For the toads…" he motioned towards Tomoyo, "I want a kiss from you."

Tomoyo obliged, "There. Happy?"

"Very." He shuffled across to me, levelling to my height. Before I realised what he was doing, I saw him close his eyes, pucker his lips together, and utter, "You too, Sakura… c'mon, right here," indicating his mouth.

I slapped him across the arm—as did Tomoyo—and we both pushed him away: "Eriol!"

See, this is what I was talking about, _always_ the comedian.

Eriol backed away and erupted into a full belly laugh, "I'm only having you on. Well, as much as I'd like to hang around… I better get back to it. I'll talk to you at home then, Tomoyo?" She nodded. "Later, Sakura."

"Later," I returned, and we began walking again.

"It looks like our plan's all going accordingly… As soon as Eriol gets them, I'll call you."

"Sure—That Eriol of yours, he's really something, isn't he?"

"Tell me about it. But that's what I love about him," she stated.

I could tell from her intonation and the smile that she wore that she was really happy to have him in her life. I would be too if I had someone like Eriol in my life; to have someone who understood me; who laughed at my jokes. Many times I would watch on thinking how great it would be to have someone who wanted to see me, and be with me, everyday, day in and day out…

"You know, you'll find your 'Eriol' too," she suddenly said to me; she must have read my thoughts. She was really good at that.

"I know, Tomoyo… One day." That was what I had said to her, but the truth was, it looked doubtful. The one person I really wanted to be with was not only taken, but he didn't even react one bit when that bitch made a fool of me. The whole time I stood, feeling naked against this girl's taunt, he barely—if at all—gave me a thought. It was in that instance, had I ever doubted my chances with him.

I forced myself to put those thoughts aside as I returned my attention back to the present. "Let's get going, or we'll never get the alterations you want done."

"Mm," she nodded.

© 30 August 2004

* * *

**Comments: **Thank you to those who read and reviewed.  
**Ihaine07:** Thank you for your continuous support. And we wonder that ourselves too; Sakura is so naive sometimes!  
**tinkerbellie:** Aw, we're glad you think Syaoran is sweet and not a loner... loser... geek. We wish we could change Sakura's mind:o) :o). Thank you.  
**oneandoneis37:** We're glad you are liking this fanfic. Thank you. And P.S. 1 and 1 isn't 37; 1 and 1 is 3.  
**Pipi-chan:** Ooh a new one, welcome to the story. Thanks for commenting. Hehe, we know it is slow. We just can't get rid of this awful way of writing! - smiles -


	11. Chapter 11

**Skin-deep  
©2007 By Julia and Tania  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 11  
21 November 2007**

* * *

**On the previous chapter:** Syaoran and Kansuke's relationship continues to be one of mutual contempt as a small confrontation occurs at the school fields. Participating in the school's fashion show during the senior school assembly, Sakura contemplates the possibility of a career in modelling. Now back in class, an embarrassing encounter with Kansuke's lady friend, Hisa, leaves her questioning Sakura's future with Kansuke.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Li Residence  
__**Time frame:**__ Summer vacation  
__**Point of View:**__ Syaoran_

"Syaoran… Time to get up: we have breakfast…"

Waking from a deep sleep, my eyes snapped open upon hearing the call—the amount of light that greeted them sending surges of pain through my head. Under a momentary spell of dizziness, I elevated my head from my unusually hard pillow in search of the time. Through a slitted view, I looked for my radio clock, but to my surprise, it was neither on my right nor my left.

"If you want to know, it's twenty past nine—"

_Meiling…_ I registered.

Resting back down against the badly supported pillow, I soon realised that this was not my usual sleeping quarters. It was my lounge.

It had been a little under a week since my temporary relocation to the lounge, whilst Meiling and Jinwei shared my bedroom. Despite my best efforts in talking to my mother, Meiling and Jinwei were to stay with me—as opposed to a hotel a kilometre away—whilst they were here visiting for a couple weeks. Her final argument was: it was a waste of travel-time and having them stay 'so far away' defeated the entire purpose of the trip. Obviously, I was not blind to the pretext my mother used to hide her intentions; to debate the matter any longer than I had already tried would have insulted my own intelligence.

"Syaoran—I didn't know you were such a heavy sleeper," she mocked, her voice resonating much too loudly, "we made so much noise heading out before, but the whole time you didn't even react one bit."

Feeling much too tired, I rejected the need to articulate an answer. But in my defence, had Meiling and Jinwei not talked and laughed till early hours of the morning, their departure this morning would not have gone unnoticed. With the thin walls and its poor insulation, their voices travelled easily to my ears—I was left to survive on broken sleep until about four thirty this morning (the time I last recalled seeing on the microwave clock). Fortunately, summer vacation was here and I wasn't scheduled on for work today.

With my arms protecting my eyes from the bright morning light, I attempted to grab several more minutes of sleep. For a few short moments, Meiling's movements were successfully tuned out. But then a mind-shattering clatter of keys followed by an unceasing chopping noise put an end to my efforts. It was then I accepted that my repose was well and truly over.

In my semi-conscious state, I dragged myself off the sofa and made my way across the apartment, towards the bathroom. My eyes glanced briefly over in Meiling's direction: she stood hovering over a pot of steaming-hot water, suspending a good-sized bowl of last night's steamed rice in her hand; on her left was a chopping board of cooked meat and a side of spring onions—apparently we were having congee this morning.

Then suddenly, a thought struck me: Meiling was alone.

"Where's Jinwei?"

But just as I finished the question, Jinwei appeared through the door. In her grasp held bottles of iced-tea: one in her hand, and the other two under the clutch of her left arm; hanging off the other arm was a bag filled with more bottles of drink.

"Sorry it took so long," she came in saying, "there were just so many people out there this morning."

By the look of things it was already beginning to heat up outside. Jinwei's appearance was one of dishevelment: her face was red; hair unkempt and it had pasted over a layer of sweat that had formed on her face. Quickly I offered her a hand, taking the drinks from her:

"You didn't need to purchase these—we could have made some," I said, taking the iced-tea from her first.

"Thanks—I know, but this brand of tea is supposed to be pretty good." She then handed me the bag filled with the bottled beverages. "…and after looking in your fridge last night, I noticed we were running out; I just had to go out and get some more," she said, referring to the ones in the plastic bag. "I don't know how you can survive without cold drinks—especially on days like these."

Placing the drinks on a spare space in the kitchen countertop, I sarcastically offered her a response: "Ice?"

She moved to place her keys and handbag on the lounge table. "Well, always adding that to water or tea makes things very bland."

Apparently, this girl enjoyed her carbonated beverages more than most normal people did. Granted, I enjoyed the occasional soda, but it wasn't something I considered very important to have in the apartment on a daily basis. But since Jinwei's arrival, it appeared to be a necessity: there wasn't one day the fridge wasn't stocked with at least one bottle. To me, it seemed that if there wasn't at least one bottle present, she might cease to function properly.

Moving back to the kitchen area, Jinwei attended to the bottles, taking them out of the bag and immediately began restocking the fridge.

She seemed normal enough though. She enjoyed her clothes and her shopping—so much so that even before the week's end, she and Meiling had done enough shopping to open up their own store; as a person, she seemed down-to-earth: for one she didn't complain about the living situation at the apartment. Although we had never met, I had known that she was from a privileged background before she arrived (my mother and Jinwei's parents are business associates and friends; as such, Jinwei occasionally appeared in our family conversations); because of that, I was anticipating a problem with the lack of space at the apartment. But to my relief, nothing of the sort eventuated. In fact, she hadn't complained much about anything since her arrival.

She was a surprisingly pleasant person to be around.

"Oh, did you want one?" Jinwei suddenly asked.

She was in the process of serving herself a glass of soda. Inwardly, I grinned at the girl, finding the familiar sight in front of me amusing: even before breakfast was served, soda had already been poured.

"No; I'm alright," I replied. "I'm off to take a shower." Then I proceeded towards the bathroom.

"Make it quick, Syaoran—breakfast should be ready soon; and we don't want to miss out on the close car-parks," Meiling called back.

I almost forgot—on today's itinerary: shopping. Dread set in as the idea of such an excursion ran through my sleep-deprived mind.

* * *

It was slightly after twelve, and it seemed that this was the time when people truly came out in their packs. Where earlier I was able to stroll through the lanes of the mall in a fairly straight line, I found an increasing need to negotiate my way around people more frequently around this time of the day; the number of patrons to the mall had definitely grown since our arrival an hour ago.

For a suburban shopping mall, this was considered to be quite the shopping complex: it consisted of four floors, hosting countless number of retail stores in an open, rectangular design. We were currently on the second floor. It featured mainly fashion stores, but also a few entertainment ones relating to music and gaming, as well as a couple electronic stores, bookshops, and quite a large sports store—this floor was where many people my age liked to gather.

For me however, there was nothing about the mall that I found particularly interesting or entertaining. To me, the mall was similar to a service station. Apart from the days that I was scheduled on for work, it was a place to visit to refuel diminishing supplies, and then depart once it had served its purpose. It wasn't a place I'd normally choose to spend my free time: had Meiling and Jinwei not visited me this summer, I'd probably be at my boss' workshop working on a car.

So gazing vacantly ahead, I lethargically lingered at the side of the girls. Whilst they scanned the store-windows, deciding their next heading, my eyes laid on the crowd ahead, occasionally looking into the windows Meiling and Jinwei found interesting. As I caught onto a group of about five students that were in my peripheral vision, my eyes flicked towards them. It wasn't that they were jumping on top of each other, walking backwards, and ignoring everyone that was trying to get around them that had caught my attention, but for the reason that I had recognised them to be from my high school. In the time that I'd been here, I had previously spotted many others—apparently the mall was a popular hang out for people from my high school as well.

_Kinomoto__ Sakura… I wonder if she's here too…_ I suddenly found myself thinking.

Her name was never too far from my mind it seemed. In the months that had passed, she seemed to come into my mind more and more frequently. There was something about her that kept her there. The fact that she was beautiful and confident was undeniable, but there was something besides those things—perhaps it was also her naivety and vulnerability that captured me. Ever since my encounter with the grief-stricken Kinomoto on that drunken night of hers, I've felt a need—a desire to watch over her, to protect her, and do whatever I could to keep her from feeling that kind of distress ever again. Ever since then, she had made a permanent residence in my head.

"Syaoran—let's go," Meiling called to me.

A grey storefront lay in front of my eyes; in the store-window displayed a couple of mannequins dressed in men's clothing; and moving my gaze inside, a shop full of clothes for men—"Why would you want to go in there?"

"Well, we couldn't leave you out, could we?" Meiling replied. "We've already done quite a bit of shopping for ourselves…"

'Quite a bit' was right. In my hands were four bags of clothes, Meiling was holding one, whilst Jinwei held two.

"…and since you've been so great about it—"

"It's your turn," Jinwei completed.

"Huh?"

"C'mon—less standing around and more shopping." Meiling then grabbed my right arm and began dragging me into the store. But something off in the distance caught my attention, and I resisted briefly.

At the top of my vision were two girls: an auburn head next to a raven one, resembling the ones of Kinomoto and Daidouji (respectively). I twisted and craned my head as far as I could; attempting to confirm my sighting through an unsteady view. Swaying it left and right, I tried to see past the crowd that was obstructing it. But by the time it had cleared, they were nowhere to be seen and I surrendered to Meiling's pull, entering the store.

It was a good forty minutes before we finally got out of that store. It felt like I was never going to get out of there: they made me their mannequin and seemed to enjoy every minute of playing dress-up on me. Outfit after outfit they made me get on—trying on pants, shirts, polos, jackets, even shorts!—and the distressing part was we came out with probably half the store. Added to my already full hands were another two bags—all of which Jinwei insisted on paying for—and in Meiling's hands, another one—the one she bought for her boyfriend (a track runner at her school who she has been going out with for two years). I was certain that, had it not been for the growing complaints from our stomachs, we might have still been in there: the pain of that experience—a forty-tonne truck repeatedly running over me would have been a more pleasant experience than what I had just endured.

At the moment, we were amongst a crowd of hungry shoppers on the lowest floor, moving through the mall's food court. To please our complaining stomachs, we had opted for a Japanese place not too far from where we situated. But with the many bags we were holding, our approach was slow and tiresome. Taking a glance in the girls' direction, they appeared to be losing energy fast.

Finding an empty table in the food court's dining area, I gestured the girls towards it, "Why don't you two get these bags to that table and I'll order," I suggested.

"I'll come and help carry the meals later," Jinwei offered.

"Uh," I acknowledged.

Without the bags of clothes protruding off of my sides, the walk to the food-court restaurant was less cumbersome. Upon my arrival, the line was not what one would consider long, but feeling uncharacteristically impatient, the wait to be served appeared the opposite. Since then, ten minutes had passed and I was standing listlessly off to the side, waiting for the food to be served; Meiling was still waiting at the table that situated just within visual range; and Jinwei, temporarily absent from my side to go to the washroom.

Just as I began to fall into a blank daze, I immediately pulled myself out of it upon seeing the two people I thought I had sighted earlier. Watching after them, I soon determined that it was, in fact, Kinomoto and Daidouji, both of whom were scanning the restaurant-menu boards a short distance from me.

"Kinomoto, Daidouji," I called to them.

Daidouji was the first to respond. "Hello, Li." She then took a brief glance at the restaurant I had ordered from before returning her gaze in my direction, "Getting some lunch?"

"Yeah. You too?"

"Hm," she affirmed. "But there are so many choices here: Sakura and I are having trouble deciding on what to have at the moment."

I smiled, understanding the small dilemma she was facing. To make a rough estimation, there were probably over twenty different food-vendors in the mall, and that didn't take into account the ones that were scattered around on other floors—a rather large number to choose from compared to standard suburban malls.

"How's your summer vacation been?" My question was directed to both of them, but my gaze had settled more on Kinomoto than Daidouji, hoping it'd encourage the former to respond. It had—

"It's…" Kinomoto began, before pausing momentarily.

As her eyes moved off to the right, seemingly allocating a bit of thought to her answer, I began to think that maybe she was finally going to provide me an answer that was longer than the curt responses I'd been used to in previous occasions—giving me an indication that she was finally warming up to me.

"…been good," she completed, showing no signs of elaborating.

Although her tone was friendly, her responses continued to be short and reserved. This Kinomoto Sakura was truly a tough cookie to break; her resistance to me was unbelievably stubborn. In the times that I've had the opportunity to observe the interaction between Ashida—someone who barely acknowledged her—and herself, she has had more to say to him in one meeting than she has ever had to say to me: was her heart set so strong on this Ashida that she saw no other guy as worth talking to?

Still, even as I stood in front of her questioning my chances, looking into those captivating green eyes of hers, I couldn't help but to be drawn to her. I may not be worth her time, but she was still worth mine. With that, I smiled in defeat, replying:

"I'm glad."

"Sir, your order is ready," the counterperson alerted all of a sudden.

"Thank you," immediately I acknowledged.

"You're welcome. Enjoy your meals."

Turning back towards Kinomoto and Daidouji, I prepared to announce my departure and let them get back to their own lunch, but just as I was about to do so, Jinwei came running in:

"Sorry!" she apologised in her native Cantonese tongue. She had come in slightly out of breath.

"Is everything alright?" I thought to ask, switching the language back to Japanese.

"Oh, I just got a bit lost—but it looks like I got back just in time though; I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," she emphatically professed.

Instantly, my eyebrows rose: I hadn't expected such vulgar speech to come from such a feminine girl. But then, as I heard her chuckle to herself, I found myself laughing with her a little—she seemed so comfortable in her own skin.

Kinomoto and Daidouji, however, weren't laughing; they simply had their attention directed towards her—most likely wondering who it was that had just compared their hunger to the consumption of a horse.

"This is Wang Jinwei," I introduced, "She's here visiting for a short while from Hong Kong."

"It's nice to meet you—I'm Daidouji Tomoyo; and this is my friend, Kinomoto Sakura."

"Nice to meet you," Kinomoto returned with a customarily bow of the head.

"It's nice to meet you both too. Are you all friends of Syaoran's?"

"We go to the same high school," Kinomoto responded, neither confirming nor denying the question.

Finding it a good time to make our exit, I moved to do so, "We should be getting the meals to the table," I began, "Enjoy your lunch."

"Thanks; same to you," Daidouji responded.

Then I moved towards the counter to pick up the meals, but not before acknowledging Kinomoto one last time, giving her a smile before I left.

Wearing an indeterminable expression, she obliged with: "See ya."

* * *

**_Location:_** _Community Library  
__**Time frame:**__ Summer vacation  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

Sitting at a set of tables in our local community library, my brows vexed at the answers before me, confused by the difference between the ones written in my maths book and the ones at the back of the calculus textbook:

_W__here had I gone wrong?_

Double checking, I flipped back through the textbook to the pages with the example questions on conics, briefly comparing their steps to mine: _Differentiate; then find the gradient of the tangent; then the gradient of the normal; and finally, substitute the values into the equations for each—_

"That's what I did," I thought aloud—frustrated—before expressing a dejected sigh: _So why do they look so different?_

Feeling discouraged, I dropped my pencil and watched it roll across my workings, and into the centre crease of my maths book. It was obvious to me now that I was never meant to pass this subject. I could sit here in the library—sacrifice a part of my summer vacation, read up on it, do the exercises, and still not pass; there was way too much to know and way too little time for me to learn it in.

Calculus and I just don't mix.

Leveraging my head on my left arm, I sighed again as my gaze moved to stare blankly at the library's entrance—or from my point of view—the library's exit. It wasn't exactly in my direct line of vision, it was off at a slight angle actually, but I suppose it was a hint from my subconscious—a message which was advising me to just call it a day and pack up and leave. But, as much as I would've loved to listen to it, my guilt over my disappointing results in my last calculus test last term (failing it by a few marks) held me back from taking such action. I'd probably have to stay for at least an hour or two to relieve even just a tinge of that guilt: three quarters of an hour—it seemed—wasn't enough.

Continuing to stare ahead, I allowed myself to indulge a few more moments of idleness. But these moments were cut short when Li appeared through the library's security barriers. As he appeared to be heading my way, I instinctively diverted my gaze.

Returning to my books, I anticipated his approach. Moments continued to pass; the swishing sound of his strides growing louder and louder as I half-heartedly read my calculus textbook. As the sound came closer, I had expected him to acknowledge my presence at any moment. Then, just when I had expected it, it didn't come. Instead, he walked right past me. I'd admit I was a little surprised, as well as, confused. Unlike all the other times when he and I were in the same vicinity where he would make some sort of move to acknowledge me, this time he completely ignored my presence.

For the next minute or two, I watched him from the corner of my eyes, feeling hesitant: maybe I should say something to him.

The books came out; then his pencil case; his pen; and after a bit of rearranging, he finally settled down to read.

"Li… Hi."

He took himself away from his books to look up at me. "Kinomoto," he said—his voice soft and barely audible. "Hey." A weak smile then spread across an apparent tired appearance.

For a split second, I had thought to ask about his fatigue, but thought better of it. Struggling to come up with more dialogue under the less intense, but just as penetrating, gaze, I felt an urgency to come up with something further to say. Brief moments had passed before I decided to ask about the obvious:

"Are you here to do some studying?"

"Uh—just a little. What about you?"

"Yeah." He smiled and nodded before he appeared to be dropping his attention back towards his books. I had taken the action as an end to our conversation, but just as I thought he was returning to his studies, he added:

"What are you studying?" his eyes gesturing towards the direction of my books.

"Calculus."

"How are you going with that?"

A slight feeling of discomfort rose in me: revealing that I was struggling seemed too embarrassing. In particular, telling someone like Li—a person who I knew was extremely able in the subject—that I didn't get it wasn't something I really wanted to admit to.

"I'm… doing okay," I decided to say, spinning a positive tone on my reply.

Admittedly, I probably sounded a little more positive than I should've, but it wasn't as if I was having problems with all the questions I had attempted—I'd been able to figure out the majority of the ones I've tried; I've just hit a problem on the third of the thirteen questions in the exercise. I hadn't even given the others a go yet.

Internally, I sighed at my feigned optimism: who was I kidding? I hadn't even gotten to the middle of the exercise and I was already having trouble. It was going horribly.

"That's good to hear," I heard him say—oblivious to the internal conversation I was having with myself. Nodding, I began to return to my books, thinking that he was probably about to do the same. But once again, he decided to add a little more: "If you need me…" Then he paused briefly. There was something about the way he paused that caught my attention, but I wasn't too sure what it was. "I'm here," he completed, his voice softer, followed by a smile.

Instead of turning away, I found myself holding his gaze. Not only did I find it uncanny how he seemed to have answered my internal thoughts, as if he could read my mind, but his presence—there was something different about him today. By that, I wasn't referring to his physical appearance—although I had noticed that there was something different about that too: he was only in a plain polo-shirt and some dress cargos, but that combination seemed to compliment him somehow; and extending off of his fingers—something I hadn't noticed until now—were a pair of some really nice-looking shades too…—but, what I was referring to was that, somehow, he felt different to me; something about him changed.

With the feeling lingering briefly, I offered a small smile: "Thanks," before finally returning to my studies.

In the next thirty or forty minutes, there was little worth noting. Li sat at his table reading his books, while I sat at mine continuing my studies. Having decided to leave the couple of questions I had struggled with till later, I thought to give the others a go—hoping that maybe I'd encounter a light-bulb moment that would, not only help me to figure out those that I had moved onto, but also the earlier ones. Nothing like that happened though. As I went further and further down, the questions only got harder. I went from having a fair idea of what I needed to do to answer the questions to having next to no idea what I needed to do.

Flicking my pencil back and forth, my mind entered another daze as I began to lose interest in doing the questions. I had given everything into figuring out these questions, and still, I wasn't much further than when I started.

An audible sigh escaped me. _I give up…_

Suddenly curious, I wondered what Li was doing. Inconspicuously, I glanced over at him—the concern that I had over him catching me looking quickly diminishing when I discovered that he wasn't even awake to notice me stealing the glance. Oddly, yet strangely intriguing, he laid with his eyes closed, leveraged by the back of a few of his fingers and thumb. Without needing to worry about the return of his gaze, my glance turned into a stare: the locks of his dark hair that so gingerly fell over his peaceful, sleeping cast, catching my attention.

Then, catching me off guard, the lids covering those eyes that seemed to know and see all suddenly began to lift. Fretting, I flicked my eyes elsewhere—immediately moving them away from his direct gaze. Finally positioning my attention back in front of me, I began waiting out a short period, hoping that he hadn't sensed my previous actions.

"How are things going with calculus?"

Only a few seconds had passed before I heard him pose the question. With that, I cursed internally. _He must have noticed_. Turning back to face him, I composed myself, replying honestly:

"Not so great."

Then without warning, he pushed himself away from his table and began walking towards me, leaving me to wonder what he was doing. "Let me have a look."

I stiffened: _he was coming over to help me_. Confused as to whether to stop him or not, I watched his approach, struggling to speak. "Umm…"

Before I knew it, he was sitting next to me.

"What were you having trouble with?"

Taken aback by the proximity his face was from mine, I felt myself jerk back before I slid my maths book across to show him. "I've just been working on the conics section—I can't seem to get my answers to match the ones at the back of the (calculus text-) book. I must've gone wrong somewhere."

He nodded in acknowledgement then began going over my workings after examining the question from the textbook. Shortly after, he flipped to a spare page in my maths book: he must have found my mistakes and was now beginning to work through the question himself. Speedily, he whipped through the first question like it was second nature to him. Less than a couple of minutes he was almost done.

"You're pretty good at this, aren't you?"

Still working away, he stated simply, "It's just a lot of studying and practise." Then he took a brief break to look up at me, expressing yet another one of his smiles. "You can do it too," then he went back to finishing the question.

"I think it'll take a lot more than that for me to get calculus."

As I saw the corners of his lips curl upwards in acknowledgement of my response, I found it interesting how he seemed to acknowledge every response of mine—it didn't matter that he was busy concentrating and working through the question as he was now; doing his own thing; or even too tired to stay awake to do his own studies; he always seemed to be making sure that I was taken care of.

"Here (he pointed to my tangent equation, comparing his work with mine), you needed to multiply both sides by four first before subtracting three—I think you knew that," he said, looking at me. "For the other question, you just forgot to include the translations into the equation."

I leaned in to study his workings. "Wow…" I said—more to myself than to him. "They were really simple mistakes."

"You're not as bad in calculus as you think."

"Thanks… Li." I had hesitated on his name, having not gotten used to saying it aloud yet. "I really appreciate it."

He nodded with a smile. "Any others?"

Li was offering to help me with more questions. As much as I was in need of help, it didn't feel right to further take advantage of his gesture. "Oh—yeah. But I don't want to take up your time."

"What's the next question?" he simply asked, bypassing my concern over the imposition.

Accepting further help, I began pointing him towards the next question; but then a buzzing noise halted me in my tracks. It was coming from under the table; from Li's pocket.

"Excuse me." He then slid open his cell phone—a phone that looked very different from the one I remembered seeing at the start of the year; it looked pretty new.

I couldn't tell what the nature of the call was, but it didn't sound very important. Li didn't speak much, and I presumed little was said on the other end as well since the call ended soon after it was received.

"Sorry about this, I didn't know it was getting so late. It looks like dinner's almost ready at the apartment. My cousin's hurrying me home," he informed. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

Knowing exactly what he was thinking of doing, I moved to decline his offer: "I'll be fine working on it by myself; you don't need to—"

"So you are going to be here tomorrow?" he interrupted, dismissing the rest of what I had to say.

"Yeah—but I don't want to trouble you."

"Then, if you want, we can continue this tomorrow."

Upon his insistence, I graciously accepted his offer. "Sure, that'd be great. Thank you, Li."

* * *

With Li rostered on at work early in the morning, we had agreed to meet again the next day in the afternoon. Sitting at the same table as the day previous, we worked through the other questions on the conics section for a good couple or so hours. As there was so much I didn't understand, what was supposed to be one teaching session, it turned into another two. Despite working early shifts on both of these days, Li had kindly offered the following afternoons so that he could go through a few other sections that I didn't get.

Having Li step me through the questions and explaining them made learning calculus a lot easier. There were still problems understanding and remembering all the formulas and how to use them, but after Li's explanations, he had helped clear up a lot of things; I definitely felt more confident about calculus than before it. With another calculus test to come first week back, thank God he was here too.

Grateful, I had offered that we go out for a couple of drinks, on me, after we finished up at the library—my way of thanking him for helping me so much. It was around four in the afternoon and it was yet another sunny afternoon with blue skies, a little cloud, and a gentle breeze. With the weather being so lovely, I had suggested that we'd sit at a table outside of a small café to have our drinks—that was my first reason. My second reason was for strategic purposes. Although I had become a little more comfortable with Li over the last few days, I'd figured it'd still be a wise idea to sit outside, as the scenery could act as entertainment were any awkward silent moments to arise.

So far, things were going alright. As we sat casually sipping our drinks, we talked about common topics, topics such as the one on our plans after graduation.

"I'm hoping to take my studies to the UK next year," Li had said in response to my inquiries on his own plans next year.

"The UK?"

"Uh. There are two universities over there I'm interested in at the moment—they seem to offer a great program in the discipline I want to pursue."

"What's that?"

"Mechanical engineering."

"As in… cars?" I didn't know exactly what mechanical engineering consisted of, but I had always presumed it to have something to do with automobiles (and of the like).

He smiled, probably at my ignorance. "That's one part of it." Then he moved to question me about my plans. "What about you?"

"I was thinking of going to university too, study something in law or something—I haven't decided yet… Maybe I won't even go to university," I thought aloud, recalling Tomoyo's comment about always being her fashion model.

"Where would you go then?"

"I could work for a year and see if I could make it as a—"

Suddenly, I paused, thinking it to be embarrassing to reveal. It wasn't that being a fashion model was embarrassing, but the industry wasn't exactly an easy one to get into. Not only was it a long climb up to the top, but it would also mean my admitting to thinking that I had the extreme beauty required to make it. Were I to voice it, it might sound a little arrogant.

"Could make it as—what?" He was looking at me now, urging me to carry on, seemingly curious as to what I was about to say.

Biting my bottom lip, my eyes wondering a couple of times, I thought about revealing my aspirations. "Umm…" He continued to wait, holding his curious gaze on me. "Maybe I could make it as a fashion model," I said finally.

"I can see why you might think to head that way. You're very attractive."

Skipping a beat, I froze. _What did he mean by that?_

Out of nowhere, he just said it, without any warning; there was no hesitation, no stutter; it was just said with ease, his voice soft, like a statement. Even as I sat here looking at him: his eyes gazing back at me, his lips only barely curled upwards, there was little I could go on into finding out what he had meant by it.

All of a sudden, the situation had taken a turn: from a rather casual and comfortable situation a moment ago, it had turned to an immensely awkward one. Feeling myself losing composure, I quickly looked away, burying the awkwardness into a few sips of my drink, before diverting my attention out at the scenery, avoiding Li.

"Hello…" he said suddenly.

Wondering what he was doing, I turned back to the table, to see Li talking into his phone—it must have been on vibrate mode again. Then returning to my drink, I sipped more of my drink as he talked on his phone.

"I'm just having some drinks with a friend… No, I'll head to the grocers; I'll get them…

To my relief, it seemed we were parting ways soon.

"At the café not too far from Kobayashi's…" he continued, before a couple of "hm… hm…" in acknowledgement followed then he finally ended the conversation, "Okay, bye." He then moved his attention to me. "Sorry, that was my cousin."

"Do you need to be somewhere?" That was me hopeful.

"No, I've got time—it's just to the grocers to get a few things for dinner."

"We can get moving; I've finished." Then I stood up. "I'll get these drinks paid for, I'll be right back."

"Ah—sure. Thanks." As I made my way into the café, I could see in my peripheral that Li was surprised by my abruptness, but even if we had stayed, I wouldn't have known what else we could've talk about. So it was probably for the better.

A short moment later I returned. Strangely enough though, Li had disappeared. Standing near the table we previously occupied, I scanned my surroundings for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Then suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kinomoto…" Turning around, I met up with Li who was staring back at me through his shades. I felt my eyes widen, taken aback by his proximity and imposing stature. "Shall we get going?"

"Umm… I can walk back home from here. It's not too far," I managed to say.

"I know. But I can still drive you back home."

I took a subtle step back. "It's okay. You've already helped me a lot today…"—_what did he mean by 'I know'?_

Then suddenly catching my attention, it switched to the two girls not too far in front me. They were fashionably dressed and it seemed they had their sights on Li. But with his back to them, he hadn't the slightest of clues.

"It's no trouble. I'll take—"

"Hey, Syaoran!" One of the girls had jumped on top of him, hanging off of him by the neck.

He turned around, obviously distressed by the stranglehold the girl had on him. "Meiling, get off me! You're strangling me!" She jumped off, pouting. "What are you both doing here, anyway?" he asked the two girls—one of which I recall meeting a few days ago, whose name I had forgotten.

"We were in the area and we thought we'd come and surprise you," the one named Meiling replied. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Kinomoto Sakura. She's the one I was helping."

She extended a hand towards me; I took it. "Li Meiling, Syaoran's cousin."

"Miss. Kinomoto," the one I had previously met suddenly called. "We met at the mall."

It seemed her memory was sharper than mine. Feeling slightly embarrassed for not returning the gesture, I proceeded to ask for her name again. "Hi—I'm sorry, but I seem to have forgotten your name."

"Wang Jinwei, but you can call me Jinwei."

"Oh, Jinwei, it's nice to see you again. How are you finding Japan?" customarily, I asked.

"It's been a lot of fun; I feel almost sad that I have to leave in a few days."

"Oh, well, you'll have to come back another time then," I thought to say.

She nodded then she turned to Li and began discussing about dinner and evening plans. As I watched her talk to Li, I began to notice how pretty she was—but I suppose not in the traditional sense. She wasn't like the girls seen in magazines—she was more subtle and natural in her looks: her skin was smooth and milky; it didn't look like she was wearing any make-up: apart from a bit of mascara, the barely noticeable shade of eye-shadow, and a bit of lip-gloss, I couldn't see very much on her at all; her hair was long and sleek, secured neatly into a high pony-tail; and even though she appeared to be the same height as me, her slim physique made her look quite tall.

…_I wonder who she is to him_.

Hearing Li use my name, I exited from my thoughts:

"I was just about to drop Kinomoto off at her place."

"No, it's okay. I'll walk home from here," I moved to say again.

"Well, since we're all here together, if you don't have dinner plans already, you can always join us, Miss. Kinomoto. You'll have to do a bit of grocery shopping before then, but after that we can all go back to Syaoran's apartment and have dinner together, then we'd be able to save going back and forth."

She seemed nice enough, but I had to decline since dinner was probably waiting for me at home in an hours time anyway. "Thank you for the invitation, but my brother's home and I think he'll be waiting for me."

"Are you sure?" she asked; I nodded. Turning her attention back to Li, she continued, "Then we'll do the grocery shopping whilst we wait for you to return then."

Before I had a chance to interject again, Li had already acknowledged her and we were on our way to his car.

The drive to my house was quiet. Our only interaction came in the form of my directions to my house. Still, it seemed Li didn't really need them. Even before I had given them, he seemed already prepared to make the turns. One time, I had completely forgotten to direct him and by the time I remembered, he had already made his way into the correct street.

Seeing my house in sight, I informed him of our approach, "It's just ahead; the yellow one."

He nodded. Seconds later, he pulled up by the curb. I unbuckled myself from the passenger's seat and grabbed my bag from my feet.

"Have a good evening," he greeted.

"Thank you for today."

"If you have any more problems, you can reach me at my number (Li had given me his mobile number during our second session at the library)."

"Thanks," I expressed before I made my way out of the car and closed the door behind me.

Lowering his head to speak through the unwound window, he said for a final time: "Good luck with the test." Then he drove off in the opposite direction.

Making my way up the driveway, I met up with my brother, Touya. His trousers were covered with dirt and so were his hands. It looked like he'd decided to do a little afternoon gardening.

"Hey, Touya. Where've you been? Looking for food in the scrap bin again?" I jested.

Touya didn't reply, instead he threatened to put those dirty paws of his in my hair. Luckily, he didn't, returning them to his hips as he stood akimbo.

"Was that Kansuke I saw?"

Out of habit, my head spun around, searching for him. "Where?"

"The guy that dropped you off."

"No—that's Li. He's the one I was at the library with today."

"Well, he's the same one that took you home."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, this is the one you called Kansuke that night"—that night I came home drunk from Eriol's party was what he was referring to.

Turning back towards the curb, I stared at the spot where his car once parked, in thought. _It was Li?_

"Well, how are things with Calculus; learn anything?" I heard Touya call in the background.

_That's… how he knew…_

© 21 November 2007

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**Comments: **Thank you to all readers and reviewers.  
**oneandoneis37:** Us guys don't normally write 1st POV. This is the first time we wrote in 1st POV. Third POV is what we're used to, so we're still learning, but we're glad we're doing okay! And to your question: Syaoran has always been aware of Sakura; but Sakura, we suppose not so much.  
**Ihaine07:** Hehehe. Sakura's blinder than most people. :oD :oD.  
**rosedreamer101:** No worries about that. Us guys understand that this site, Fanfiction . net had problems with their systems:o) :o)  
**infiniteternity:** Hmm... have to say, was never good at romance. We tend to like to write action/adventure. This is the first romance story we've written. Bare with us, please.  
**insanity-ward:** We are glad that you think our approach is okay. Hmm, but we do feel the pressure to move it along. Hehe. And, Meiling has arrived.  
**tinkerbellie:** Hehe, we hope so--that this story is interesting. :oP :oP.  
**flowers:** flowers, we're glad after all these years, you still find this story worth keeping up with. - smiles - You were close enough with Ashida's name--only missing the letter 'd' and move the 'i' over two places to the right.


	12. Chapter 12

**Skin-deep  
****©2008 By Julia and Tania****  
Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 12  
03 January 2008**

**

* * *

****On the previous chapter:** Syaoran's summer vacation is spent with a couple visitors from back home, namely, his cousin, Meiling, and the daughter of his mother's friend and business associate, Jinwei. A trip to the mall sees Syaoran bump into a friendlier, but still rather reserved, Sakura. But improvement is seen in their relationship after a few calculus lessons and a drink at a local café.

* * *

_**Location:**__ School hallway  
__**Time frame:**__ Friday Afternoon  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

While summer vacation is well and truly over, and the last day of the first week of school comes to an end in an hour for some and two for others, the excitement of the last week of summer vacation extended beyond it and through to this week for me: last week had been the best days I've had in the whole of summer vacation.

I had at one time casually thought about a possible career in being a professional model, but it being an actuality had surprised me when a phone call came through early Tuesday morning of the last week of summer vacation. A modelling agency (one that Tomoyo tells me is a top agency in the country) informed me that I possess the look that many of their clients were looking for. My reaction was like anyone who hadn't expected such news: I was shocked; then overjoyed; then disbelief; and then finally—elation and celebration! A wonderful dinner the next day at an extravagant restaurant with family and friends was held to celebrate the news. Having gotten the phone number from Eriol, the best part was that after all of summer vacation of not seeing Kansuke, I was able to personally invite him and have him come. Later that night, while my family retired after dinner, my friends and I went to the movies. It was the most perfect activity to end the night because the entire time at the movies I was in Kansuke's arms! The following day, I had my first photo shoot for a spread in a high fashion magazine. I was nervous and stiff at first, but towards the end of it, I was enjoying it all. The photographer noticed it too, as he told me that the sets at the end looked more natural and more beautiful because I was relaxed. He also informed me that I could expect to receive a copy of the magazine in a few weeks.

All good and fun, but it had its displeasures: having spread around the school, the news attracted some unwanted attention throughout the school week. Presently, a male (of whom I have to say is not unknown to me) 'escorted' me to Calculus class.

"Calculus, huh?—how's that going?" He was responding to the answer I had given to his question of my heading.

This guy had a personality I've never particularly liked; only a forehead taller than when I wore heels; sandy hair; somewhat lean—one could say he was good-looking face on, but if one stands beside him, his side profile reveals the bridge of the nose to protrude half an inch too much for the male to be flawless. Nevertheless, a player; lazy; and only did anything that benefited him in some way. He had been trailing behind me since I entered the building and had not taken my hint to leave even with my curt and sometimes non-existent responses.

"Yeah, right—you find how I'm doing in calculus interesting." A sarcastic response was what I had chosen to give him this time as I walked on, not paying him any real attention.

"Sakura—"

"Don't call me Sakura."

"Kinomoto—"

I interrupted him; no longer was I able to suppress the frustration his presence was causing me to feel—"Hey," I began; then with gritted teeth—my way of holding back the verbal abuse I had wanted to give this guy—I completed: "you know what I wish for you to do, Arakaki?"

"It's Jiro. What can I do? I can do anything for you, Sakura."

He continues to test me by calling me Sakura when I had not given him permission to:—"For God's sake, transparent jerk, stop stalking me!" I had wanted to scream at him; but I only said, "Leave!"

It was the last thing I said before I hastened my pace towards the Calculus class. I quickly walked in; slammed it shut on him; before indicating to him further that I no longer appreciated his infuriating presence with a glare through the small glass window on the door.

He got the message and finally left.

"God damn annoying male," I mumbled to myself. It was also at this time that Tomoyo's smiling face appeared on the other side of the glass door to which the annoying male had a few moments ago looked through. I realised I had still been guarding the door when she gave me a strange look. Quickly, I moved myself away from the door. She then walked through as she asked—

"Hi Sakura: why were you standing near the door?"

"Nah—it's nothing important to mention really," I replied as we made our way to our seats. She raised a brow. I responded to the import of her raised brow:

"It's just another guy wanting to talk to me." She nodded understandingly as she required no further explanation; then replied with—

"Right—so it's now four?" She was referring to the number of guys that had come up to me throughout the week.

"No, it's one less; but however many, why bother?"

"I believe it is Sakura." Both brows rose as I asked for an elaboration. "They can't resist your beauty!"

I laughed heartily at Tomoyo's reasoning as I responded—"I really doubt the reason for my recent jump in popularity with the guys is because of my beauty. It's not like I've changed the way I look. So that can't be."

I paused. We both took a seat at our respective desks. I placed the straw tote handbag I used as my school bag on the lap before I began once more: "It's like they think I'm some well-known supermodel."

"But Sakura, you will be!" Tomoyo said enthusiastically. "In a few years, you will be a desirable and successful supermodel. No doubt about it!"

"Tomoyo…" Embarrassment filled me. She only gave a small laugh though; in turn, I responded with a slight smile: Tomoyo will always be Tomoyo. She's an eccentric girl who always has enough confidence in me for the both of us in things such as these.

My attention then shifted to the classroom as I unpacked my gear: an unusually empty classroom I was sitting in at the moment. I counted only six others here with us.

"Where do you think everyone is?" I asked, querying my thoughts aloud. "It's one-thirty-five and there's still hardly anyone here. Chiharu's not here yet, either. Do you think there's something on that we don't know about?"

"I'm not too sure; I didn't hear anything; but Mr. Hisamatsu's often tardiness to this class could be one reason for most not being here?" Tomoyo thought.

"Could be," I said.

Mr. Hisamatsu was often late to the Friday class—never Mondays. He was always on time for the Monday classes. I'm not one to complain though; only surprised to have found such a pattern.

The thought exited my mind when the calculus textbook I expected to be in my straw tote handbag was not found.

"Damn," I said thinking aloud, "I forgot to get the textbook out of my locker again. I'm going to have to borrow one from the front." Tomoyo acknowledged with a nod before I moved in the said direction.

Nearing the front row, my eyes caught onto Natsumi who sat under a window. She seemed to have sensed me when I saw her remove her attention from what I believed was a magazine. Kind eyes then greeted me. "Hey Sakura, how's it going?"

I smiled, "Hey, Natsumi." I indicated a finger towards the bookshelf. "I'll just get a textbook from the front and I'll be back." I waited for her nod before heading to the bookshelf located below the whiteboard's edge. I reached for one of the four textbooks on the second shelf before returning to Natsumi. I took the empty seat in front of her. Natsumi began before I did as she asked,

"You got a calculus textbook from the front?"

"Yeah, stupid me I left mine in my locker."

She smiled. She then closed her magazine before saying, "Oh, I haven't congratulated you yet—I heard that you got scouted by a modelling agency: congratulations, Sakura!"

"Yeah, thanks, Natsumi." The magazine cover caught my attention: I recognised it to be the one I was going to feature in. I pointed to it: "Do you like reading that magazine?"

"Mm, I like the sophisticated fashion styles and life stories in it."

"Oh that's really good then. I'll be getting the next issue sent to me for free. That magazine there..." I once again indicated to it with my eyes—"it's the one I'll be appearing in. When I get it, I'll give it to you."

"Really?" She stood the magazine up as it was her turn to point at its cover. "You're going to appear in this one?" I nodded affirmatively. She gave me a wide smile. "Wow, so cool!—and thank you, Sakura!"

"No problem, Natsumi!"

Although talking to her was an occasional thing, I have always enjoyed talking to her. I found that her unique cheerfulness always transferred into me when I did. At the moment I also felt cheerful.

"Anyway, what did you think of the calculus test on Monday?" I then asked.

"Mr. Hisamatsu put some hard questions, but I think I will do okay. How did you go with it, Sakura? I hope you went well with it, too."

"I got some help, so this time it wasn't too bad for me either!"

"Oh that's so good!" A clapping of the hands together before the corners of her mouth lifted and spread into a wide smile. Again her contagious cheerfulness rubbed off onto me: I widely smiled before small laughter escaped me. A moment later, though, Natsumi's attention left me as I had seen it to look upon Li who was making his way to his seat across the one I occupied.

He had not noticed our gazes—he seemed to be busy replying to a message on his phone as his fingers moved all around the phone. After a few more moments, his phone was out of sight, placed into one of the pockets of his messenger bag, before his head lifted.

"Hi, Li," again, a cheerful tone Natsumi had said it in.

"Kojima: good afternoon," he greeted her. A brief moment before he spotted and greeted me also: "Good afternoon." I dipped my head slightly in acknowledgement.

"Li: Sakura's going to appear in this magazine—isn't that so cool?"

I stiffened slightly upon the announcement by Natsumi. That knowledge was only supposed to be known by my family and several of my friends at this stage. I was already struggling to cope with the additional attention I received this week. I could not handle the possible undesired attention I'd get when the magazine came out if those who would make my life hell were to know. Li was not one to make hell out of the knowledge, but I hadn't thought to let him know.

After Li set his bag down and pulled a chair over to seat himself between Natsumi and me, he took the magazine Natsumi held in her hands into his own. He looked at the cover, but did not go look at the insides—he didn't flip through the magazine to survey the contents like I believed most people would. A few seconds later, a kind smile formed on his lips as he directed his attention towards me. Using the word that Natsumi had previously used to describe my being in the magazine, he said:

"Uh, it is definitely cool."

I only nodded; for my mind supplied me with little else to respond with. He continued—

"How was the photo shoot? Did you have fun?"

"Yeah—I had fun."

"What did it feel like wearing all those stylish and expensive clothes and being made up and styled by professionals?" Natsumi entered.

In the presence of Li, I modulated and subdued my responses. "Yeah, I liked it. All the clothes were beautiful. There were a few things I wanted—some of the shoes I got to wear especially."

"I've always loved the shoes that the models wore in each of the issues. You're so lucky to have been able to try them on."

"Mm, I liked a lot of them, too, but they are too expensive for me to own them."

"Mm, I don't think I could _ever_ spare several hundred dollars on a pair!" I smiled. Natsumi's eyes then beamed: "Oh!—where did you go to take the photos? What theme is it this time?"

"Well, the photo shoot was inside a café. It's one in town—I can show you which one if you want to see it."

She happily nodded—"I would love to see it."

"I can show you after school one day."

"That sounds good. We can also just hang out at the café. It'll be so fun!" Natsumi said with excitement. She had indicated 'we' with a circling motion of the hand to mean: Natsumi, Li, and me. Natsumi and me going together—I had no problems with; but the addition of Li—I wasn't too sure about that. But not wanting to be rude, I replied with:—

"Umm, yeah… Sure."

My attention was brought to Li when I heard quiet laughter coming from him soon after I had said that. My brows creased as he continued to take pleasure in whatever thought his mind supplied him with. My eyes then narrowed in curiosity a moment later: _What was so funny?_ I thought. I was about to query that aloud when someone behind me interrupted. The person asked—

"What's going down over here?"

I turned to the voice: it was Kansuke. He crouched down between Li and me; he used my table and Li's chair for support as he placed an arm on each of them.

Natsumi answered him. "We were talking about Sakura and her modelling début." I had found Natsumi's tone to be polite. However, it lacked cheer.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see it come out!" There was eagerness in his tone. There was something else in there too which had made me uncomfortable—the way in which he said it came at me so uncomfortably. He then continued with another which left me feeling the more uneasy—

"Where are you appearing Sakura? I'm going to get it for sure." He pulled me in; placed an arm around my shoulder; before squeezing tightly and saying, "I want to let my friends see what a looker you are!" He looked at me; and usually his gazes would make me flighty; but not this time. I was having trouble meeting them.

"Hey: stop with that shit," Li said; but rather than anger—as those words would normally have portrayed—they were spoken with sternness. But moving my gaze towards him, there was a pair of eyes that looked into Kansuke's with such emotion.

Kansuke's expression changed accordingly as his good mood transformed to an unpleasantness. He broke the tense stare first—rather—he broke the stare but not the tension I felt in the air as he intensified it further. He articulated, "Shit?—" A pause. A smirk then spread across his lips and a brow cocked high in smugness. "What?—can't stand that this hot lady is mine, Loner?"

My own thoughts of Kansuke's possessive comment was pushed aside as I continued to observe the increasingly heated confrontation between the two: no change was found in Li's expression, nor had words escaped from him, only a steely stare continued to look into Kansuke's pair of eyes. He then stood; a turn saw him close the distance between him and Kansuke, entering into the space between Kansuke and me. Kansuke followed his actions as he rose from his seat also.

"Move," Li commanded. He seemed to have chosen to leave rather than respond to his question. Kansuke, however, didn't yield to his command. Instead, he stood firmly in his position and countered—

"You move."

I stole a glance towards the door: still the teacher hadn't arrived. I was glad. However, a larger group of people had directed their eyes in this corner of the room.

Finally, after a couple of seconds, Li took hold of his seat and moved; but a colliding of shoulders further irritated Kansuke and saw him shove Li hard at the chest with his hands. A clank of a descending chair, a screech of table feet, and a clap of hands on table and chair eventuated before I found Li's neck meeting my left shoulder. The push had caused Li to seek for Natsumi's desk and my chair for support.

I was shocked; but that did not make me miss the expression of shock also in Li's eyes. Apologetic eyes then looked at me before they filled with a kind of rage. He got back up and turned his attention back towards Kansuke. I expected him to confront him again, but after a moment of standing there (presumably glaring at him with extreme dislike for his back was all I could see), he took hold of his chair and walked past him—no words said or make the previous mistake of body contact. He only sat down at his desk and carried on in preparing for class. Li had ignored him.

I turned to look for Kansuke's reaction: he was still standing, appearing to look unsatisfied with the unexpected ending.

_What's… that all about…?_ I thought.

A few seconds more had Kansuke stayed there. Then, without further words or a look in my direction, he removed himself from this scene. He made his way towards his seat at the centre row.

And just in time had all this ended as well: Mr. Hisamatsu entered the classroom presently.

Waving a Natsumi goodbye, I made my way back to my seat. I took a glance at Kansuke for a response from him, but yet again, he didn't acknowledge me as he kept his attention to the front of the class. Whilst passing him, I was also met by Hisa's witchlike glare. I ignored it as I continued in my way. Upon reaching my desk, a couple of questioning faces from Tomoyo and Chiharu waited for answers. I took my seat.

"Sakura, what happened over there?" Tomoyo asked—a worried expression now on her face. It was here that Mr. Hisamatsu entered—

"Sorry for the delay. We've lost fifteen minutes already, let's start immediately: I haven't started marking the tests yet so I don't know how you all did. But what did you think of it? Easy?"

Moans of unhappiness came from all corners of the class before a few responded to his question.

Meanwhile, Tomoyo and Chiharu were still waiting for my response as their eyes looked at me, still puzzled. I told them that I would tell them after class when there was more time before joining the rest of the class and listened in on more responses from the class.

An hour passed and calculus finally ended. Nothing but the usual teachings of the subject occurred after the discussion of Monday's test. Straight after the class, before Kansuke disappeared out the door, I tried once more to talk to him; but he seemed to not have wanted anything to do with me. He ignored me and exited the room with Hisa. I had been slightly irritated at first, but I calmed down afterwards when I reasoned that he probably needed some time to cool down. After that, I walked Tomoyo and Chiharu to their sixth period classes whilst I retold the events that had led up to the confrontation between Kansuke and Li. Chiharu had found the entire thing strange while Tomoyo still believed that Li was Kansuke's competition. Even after the second time Tomoyo had said that I still didn't see it that way. However, her suggestion had made me play with the idea in my mind for a moment—Kansuke being taken over by the green-eyed monster because of another guy's attention towards me was something that my ears liked hearing and my mind filled with such thoughts.

Several minutes had passed since I saw Tomoyo and Chiharu off to their classes. Unlike Tomoyo and Chiharu who had classes in the sixth period, my sixth period was a study period—or rather—"home time" as I had called it.

The school ground was a peaceful quiet as sixth period was in session. I peered through a few windows to classrooms as I made my way out of the school. Upon reaching the school's courtyard where a basketball court situated before me, my eyes caught sight of the basketball hoop in the distance. I felt like pretending to be a basketball player in this moment. I walked up to the three-point line. My eyes stayed focused on the hoop's rim. I visualised the path that the ball I imagined to have in my mind would take in order to make a successful shot. Ready to take the shot, I adjusted the positioning of my bag, mimicked the stance of a basketball player then released the imaginary ball into the air. The ball neither entered nor missed the hoop as a voice from behind interrupted me from my play. The words spoken were—

"Shooting some hoops?"

I turned to look in the said direction—"Li."

He seemed to be doing that a lot these days; frequently he appeared out of nowhere and everywhere—at the library, at the fields during lunchtime, at the lockers, after school like he had now; and not to mention the times we bumped into each other during summer vacation all added up to an unusual amount of times I bumped into him. Sometimes I wondered how we managed to bump into each other so often.

He walked up to me, before he asked another question. "Going home?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. I'll walk you."

Leaving the basketball courts, the usual silence accompanied us as we walked together.

"Before… in calculus class…" Li began moments later. I turned my head in his direction when he hadn't continued. "I'm sorry about that," he finished.

I looked at him, confused. "Sorry—for what?"

"Sorry for my falling on top of you."

I shook my head once: "It wasn't as if it was your fault…" Kansuke entered my mind. Speaking more to myself than anything, I said—

"Actually… Kansuke was a little strange today. He was… kind of freaky."

"That guy's always 'freaky'."

I winced—a disagreement on my part with the implication within the matter-of-fact tone he used to speak those words. I understood Kansuke was, at times, rough, especially with some of the guys—Li being one in particular—but I didn't see Kansuke as being as terrible as he implied him to be.

I provided no answer to Li's comment as we exited the school gates and entered the suburban streets that greeted us. Not long after, however, did a block of silence began to accumulate; awkwardness was entering; I decided to ask:

"Do you live close to the school?"

"It's about twenty minutes from here."

"This is not out of your way?"

"No. My apartment is several streets from where your house is." I nodded.

Another patch of silence entered. Finding the need to find something my mind could focus on, I settled on the approaching block of shops, looking into each of them casually. After a couple shops, I reached the large window to the small and intimate dry-cleaning place I worked at. My boss would most likely be in the back doing some dry-cleaning, nevertheless I peered through the window and searched for her.

As expected, she wasn't there; however, there was a young businessman standing with his back against a wall beside the counter. Something about him was familiar: the way he held himself, the aura he exerted. Several more moments before I recognised him to be the customer I served last Saturday; I didn't like him much: he was an unsavoury individual. He caught my gaze then gave me a smutty look—a twist and turn of my guts signaled my disgust.

I hastened my pace to disappear out of sight—but my desire for a speedy disappearance from the man's line of vision hadn't been too successful as I slammed harshly into something that clanged like metal and inflicted sharp pain to my bare shins.

"_Ow!_" I cried; before annoyance settled in—"What the hell?"

The person I had forgotten was walking beside me laughed momentarily. Then, hand and arms hovering over me, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Why are you laughing? This is kind of painful, you know," annoyance with the A-frame footpath sign I had collided with continuing to pass through me. I bent down to rub both my shins to alleviate the pain.

Apologetic, he said: "I'm sorry."

With the laughter gone, and a seriousness that baffled me, he came to meet up with me on the ground. He extended a hand then began to rub over the injured area with his thumb. I said nothing as my eyes transfixed onto his gesture.

"It's a little grazed, but it looks okay." He removed his attention from it and back onto me. I found myself matching his gaze; nothing particular in my mind—only the neutral look in his eyes captured my attention for some moments; then I rose; he followed and rose also. I spoke after this:

"M-Mm—it doesn't hurt anymore." I paused. "Let's keep walking."

Several more blocks were spent in silence. My mind engaged in trivial thoughts of the weather, passing landmarks, people in the vicinity, and what I hadn't thought would enter my mind—Li. He scattered in between those thoughts, popping in once in a while; here and there—and yet again, at this present moment, he occupied my thoughts. I watched him in my peripheral: even with my eyes already at its most upper-right, I could only see just below his chin. He was definitely taller than Kansuke. His physique appeared to be similar too—

A muffled but sharp sound entered. I recognised it to be a ring tone of a phone. It was Li's. Presently, he answered it:

"Hey."

Several seconds of silence from Li as he listened; a nod followed; then silence for another several seconds before he spoke again:

"I can get online in about ten minutes; I'm making my way home." He listened again; a gesture of acknowledgement before he ended the call and placed the phone back into his bag.

I can't say that I can ever get used to his phone always going off. It is strange how he's often talking or messaging on that thing. Maybe Tomoyo was right when she said that he had a lot of people around him—either that, or he knew a few who seemingly loved to talk.

"Sorry. That was Jinwei," Li explained.

I acknowledged his explanation with a nod—although, it wasn't particularly necessary for him to: his phone calls and who he was talking to were his business. Nevertheless, finding that filling the remaining block with conversation rather than a continuing silence, I continued it:

"Jinwei: she's doing well?"

"She caught a cold. She needs help on some assignments."

"So you are helping her with them?"

"Uh."

"That's…" I paused momentarily as the next bit seemed somewhat hard to get out for me, "…very nice of you." He smiled.

I stopped walking as we finally reached my house. "Here's my house." Li nodded. I unlocked the gates and walked through. I turned to address him again. "Um, thanks for walking me home."

"No problem. Have a good weekend."

"Yeah, you too. And also, thanks for that night you dropped me off." He showed an expression of puzzlement on his face. I further explained: "Thanks for the night that you took me home when I had too much to drink." His expression no longer held puzzlement; he seemed to have understood as he acknowledged with a nod.

"Well—see ya." He said a "see ya", and that was my cue to leave; but I didn't. I stood there, caught by his eyes.

They always… see me.

A slight movement in them snapped me back to the present. Embarrassment filled me. I sheepishly smiled; nodded once; quickly closed the gate; before, in a stumbling manner, I made my way into my house.

* * *

Two Mondays later, the magazine I promised to give to Natsumi arrived and I was finally able to see the eight-page photo spread in the final product. I had found it a beautiful and artistic eight pages, containing images that flattered me. On the same day, the calculus test was returned. When Mr. Hisamatsu handed them out, I had expected some mark in the 50's range—or possibly below that like the previous test—but when it was placed on my desk, my utter happiness couldn't be contained within myself: "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh—a seventy-seven percent!" I had said as I showed Tomoyo and Chiharu.

The day after that, it passed with little significance; and so had the school hours of today: Wednesday. The last class of Wednesday always ended at 2:30 P.M. to make way for an afternoon of sports competitions. Up until grade ten, I had been in the cheerleading squad; and every Wednesday afternoon, I also participated in the afternoon's sports competitions as I went out to the school fields to cheer on our school teams. But in the last two years, I had given up that sport and chosen to use that extra time elsewhere, such as going to the shops to gather necessities—as I was doing this afternoon.

I had spent a good forty minutes in the shops looking for foodstuffs, toiletries, and a couple quad paper pads for calculus before walking down this quiet suburban street to head for home.

A light wind and grey clouds with patches of blue sky had accompanied me this afternoon. It hadn't been like this earlier today. This morning, the sun had shone magnificently in a sky which sported the most brilliant blue; there was summer-like warmth; and any form of wind was non-existent. No doubt was the current existing weather incomparable to the magnificence of the morning, but it was still enjoyable to walk in.

Little traffic existed in this part of the town I was walking in. The usual calmness and tranquillity existed here—so much so that it was the soft and pleasant sound of leaves rustling in the light wind that caught my ears' attention: it brought about images of a mosaic of colourful autumn leaves falling to the ground. However, in this September month of autumn, my senses felt and saw little sign that such season had arrived: the air was still somewhat warm; trees still hung onto their leaves; and their leaves still held onto a lively and vibrant green hue.

Suddenly, a shrilling chirp came from my tote handbag: my cell phone. I rested my shopping bags on the concrete footpath as I tended to it.

Taking it out from my bag and then bringing it to sight, I read the notification on the display screen: _Kansuke_. I pressed a button; it switched to the message. It read:

"_Hey, Sakura. Doing anything tonight? You wanna hang?"_

I smiled upon reading the message. Since that incident in calculus class, Kansuke seemed more approachable for some reason. Rather than being just classmates who hung around the same circle of friends, I felt like we were actually friends now. It's strange actually—he's been contacting me more these days. I wonder what has changed.

Happily, I messaged him back:

"_Hi. What were you thinking of Kansuke?"_

After the message sent, I returned my phone back into my bag before picking up the shopping bags and resumed heading home. Several properties later, another shrilling chirp sounded again. I once again stopped. I placed my shopping bags on the ground, took my phone out, and read the message.

"_I just wanna hang out with you."_

As I began to text him back, without warning, a sudden gust of wind blew me off balance. A shriek escaped me upon such force. Where a post box was situated on my left, I leaned on it for support.

The strong wind continued to come at me. I shielded my eyes from the onslaught of such force with one of my hands. I looked through the spaces between the fingers: what I saw was a whirlpool of whatnots of a size no smaller than the width of the road hovering over the concrete ground. My head instinctively tilted upwards: overhead was a frightening, and almost claustrophobic, dark blanket of low-lying clouds closing in and covering over the remaining blue in the sky.

Replying to Kansuke's message will have to wait: getting home was my primary concern at this time. I quickly put my cell phone back in my bag, took hold of the shopping bags, and briskly walked.

It had only been seconds before an onslaught of rainwater came pummeling down onto me and into my front.

"_Damn it!_" I shouted—frustrated; but I had barely heard my own voice as the thunderous roar of heavy rainwater smacking against all that it touched did nothing but drowned most of it out.

My hair and the material of my summer dress clung uncomfortably to my skin; arms tired from the added weight of water in the shopping bags; and legs buckled in the strong wind. The need for a brief moment from a weather which had gone from pleasant to something ugly in a matter of minutes saw me searching for a suitable retreat, but my eyes saw nothing—there was no hiding from such a strong wind or from such a volume of water. My only option seemed to have been to push on until I got home.

The wind reduced in strength several moments later, but the torrential rain that continued coming down at me still held a bit of wind power. I fiercely battled with the rain and wind, but with each step, I had found it to be a loosing battle—all was too much for me and I lost grip of my shopping bags and my balance: buckling and cold knees and wrists met harshly and ungracefully with the ground; but I had felt no pain in them as the constant drenching of cold rainwater numbed all feeling.

I attempted to return to my feet seconds later. It was at this time that my ears had the displeasure of hearing a string of low rumbling sounds in the sky before a couple flashes of blue light lit the gloomy skies.

With that, I was more determined to reach the safety of my home. I put more power into my strides.

Only another few seconds did I hear something faint in the background, in the direction behind me—a sound that was indefinable by my cold ears; but I had found a slight curiousness in it. Maybe it had been my subconscious calling out for assistance that I wanted to see what the noise was.

I turned my head in that direction. Though the image was blurred, my eyes saw a male individual: he wore a dark-coloured t-shirt and pants; the ends of his pants were fluttering against the wind while everything else clung to his body; like me, he held a hand over his eyes; and he was walking in the direction I was. When he further looked up a moment later, it was at this time that I recognised him. Something in his expression told me that he had also recognised me.

I waited; several slow and awkward strides before he finally reached me.

"_Kinomoto?—what are you doing out in this weather?_" Water was spat as Li spoke. Streams of it were also flowing down his face—he didn't look too good; his hair pasted all over his face in an unattractive manner. But I shouldn't be judging: I most likely looked just as bad as he did. I replied—

"_I was shopping for some things. But I can ask the same thing to you, too!_"

"_Jinwei and Meiling—_" Li was cut off by a cough. He continued: "_They left some things—_" He cut himself off as he shook his head: "_Never mind about that—let's get inside first. My apartment is only a block away. We can both head there. I'll drive you home when this dies down!_"

Even though his offer would get me out of this unsightly weather (my shopping probably would have appreciated it as well—that is, if all hasn't been spoiled by the weather yet), I still hesitated to accept it straight away. But Li seemed to have found my hesitation a frustrating one. He told me off, saying:

"_This is not the time to be stubborn! Let's go!_" He took both of my shopping bags before he yanked me into his arms and pushed me on.

I could only comply. He shielded and guided me down the footpath as we both picked up our paces to head for the safety of Li's apartment.

© 03 January 2008

* * *

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	13. Chapter 13

**Skin-deep  
****©2008 By Julia and Tania  
****Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 13  
20 January 2008**

* * *

**On the previous chapter:** Sakura comes back from summer vacation with a lot of attention directed towards her—some wanted and unwanted—after being scouted by a modelling agency. While waiting for her calculus teacher to arrive, she takes some time talking to her classmate, Natsumi (and Syaoran). But when Kansuke enters, a confrontation between Syaoran and Kansuke eventuates. Sakura is forced to look on. Weeks passing and all fanfare disappearing with its pass, Sakura enjoys an afternoon of shopping. But when a torrential rain suddenly erupts, she is forced to make a run for home. Luckily, she has the aid of Syaoran and both are now heading for his apartment.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Out on the street  
__**Time frame:**__ Monday afternoon  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

Li's place, it was not far; it was only a couple of blocks away from where we had run into each other. It took us no longer than five minutes to reach the building to his residence. But even then, it hadn't been close enough for us to escape from being completely saturated and chilled to the bone.

Panting, shivering, and dripping all over, we trudged into the apartment building's elevator lobby. The door shut behind me, but not before allowing one more hit of cold wind come through, sending a deeper shiver through me.

"That's some crazy weather," Li commented, seemingly more to himself than to me. Nonetheless, I nodded in agreement—not that he had seen: his attention was on his hands at the moment, vigorously rubbing them together and blowing at them.

A brief moment later, he turned to address me. "My apartment is—"

He suddenly stopped. I frowned in curiosity. His eyes widened then they briefly flicked downwards, seemingly distracted by something in the said direction. Then—although seemingly still distracted—he continued again:

"…on the third floor. We should make our way up there." His voice was low on the last part; my frown of curiosity turned into a frown of worry. Judging from where his eyes flicked to, it had something to do with my appearance.

Following the path his eyes had previously travelled, I scrolled down to examine my appearance. The next thing I found myself doing was gasp in shock before throwing my arms around my chest. Heat surged to my face as I began to feel extreme embarrassment.

What Li had seen, or was seeing—what was clearly visible were the orange lace panties and matching bra I put on this morning. The rain had completely gone through my dress—so much that it was now offering Li a free view of my underwear! I stood there, frozen and not breathing for a moment.

An image of me digging myself a deep hole appeared in my mind…

_AHHH!_ Pause. _AHHH…!_ Pause. _AHHH!_ I cried. This was so mortifying!

"I'm sure I can find something up at my apartment for you to get changed into. Should we head up?" he entered.

I turned to him: he was calm and cool, and was being very diplomatic about it; he didn't show—or rather it seemed he didn't let show—any discomfort until his eyes betrayed him, now darting everywhere.

I nodded and headed towards the elevator. Li followed behind, and my only thought during this time was on the view of my backside and how much of it Li was able to see. No doubt the view was just as revealing.

I closed my eyes, taking an internal, steadying sigh. Why of all things, did this have to happen to me? Why did Li have to witness this humiliation of mine? I mean, it wouldn't have been any less humiliating had he been elsewhere or if he were someone else, but it just seemed to me that he always saw me at my worst.

Li pushed the button and a short moment later the elevator sent out a sharp _ding_ before the door opened to receive us. I nestled myself in a corner, just opposite the control panel: the adjoining walls seemed to give me a sense of extra protection for some reason. Li settled alongside me, situating himself about a foot away after entering the floor on the control panel. He settled his gaze at the elevator door and I maintained my attention on its position indicator, neither of us speaking during our short journey up.

Then the doors slid open. As if I hadn't been humiliated enough, it was just my luck to have people waiting on the other side of the door—what were the chances of having that many people waiting for an elevator in an apartment building? I was thinking not very likely; but there they were, three pairs of eyes, all wide and directed at me and my half-naked appearance.

This just had to be a joke and it was all on me.

Li quickly moved to cover me, standing in front of my frozen body. He took hold of one of my arms that was behind him and began leading me out of the elevator. We made our way past the awaiting group with me following closely behind, his height providing full coverage of my front. Then presumably making sure they didn't get a view of my backside, he moved me around to face him in a full embrace. Although I appreciate that he was trying to shield my back from their gazes, I didn't find this action particularly necessary.

We were basically chest to chest, and normally by now I'd feel indignant with such a sudden and inappropriate action, but I soon found it to be rather pleasant. The embrace—as much as I didn't want to admit it—felt nice around me: he felt warm and the arm around my waist felt pleasurably strong. With that, I felt myself grow warm. But then suddenly the heat dissipated as his beating heart caught my attention.

_It's not normal to be able to feel someone's heart beat right…?_ I thought with curiosity. _Or was it?_ I knew it was a silly question, but I couldn't find an explanation to why Li's heart was beating like that.

"Whoa did you see her?" a male voice whispered just as we cleared the group.

And just like that my embarrassment was revived. My ears perked up more to the next bit before heating up again. "You can see her underwear," he finished.

Then another followed, this time an elderly, female voice: "Oh my, is that what they're wearing these days? My, my…"

"_It's the rain…!" _internally I cried. _"This is not how I usually dress!"_

I suppose from this point on, whenever I bumped into these people (and I cringe at this point) I'd be known to them as: 'the one without clothes' or maybe 'the naked one'?

This day just gets better and better.

Then suddenly my attention was returned to Li as I felt a hand slide around my waist before cold air was felt. He had released me from his grasp and was now walking down the hallway without me. Again, I found this strange. For as long as I remember, he always stayed close, but this time, he left me trailing behind, without waiting for me or saying a word. Something about his aura felt odd too—maybe it was his surprisingly calm expression that he was sporting. It didn't at all match the anxiety he was obviously feeling when his heart thumped against my chest back there… _Why was I able to feel it beat like that?_

Seeing Li suddenly stop at an apartment three doors down, I picked up my speed, storing my thoughts away. He took out a set of keys to his apartment and began unlocking the door to it. Apparently, we've arrived at his place.

"I'll get you a towel," he said upon my arrival; and again, he disappeared around a corner, before I managed to articulate a—"Thanks."

I made my way into the apartment. A narrow hallway containing a bathroom, lavatory (both on my right), and a bedroom (which I could just see behind the semi-closed door and the only door on my left) led into a generous space, making up the apartment's living, dining, and kitchen. This space was filled with some pretty new appliances and modern furnishings: notably, a contemporary sofa and lounge table in front of a flat-panel television in the lounging area. Scanning the walls, they sported a beige colour, a couple of traditional Chinese paintings, a medium-height bookshelf, and this ornate sword in a glass case (it looked like a family heirloom) which I had found interesting.

_This is a really nice apartment with some really nice things_, I thought.

Still fascinated by the apartment's features, I was drawn to the balcony. Walking over, I stared out the large glass doors that separated it from the lounge. The view at the moment was not that great: dark clouds still loomed over us as did the pouring rain, but I'd imagine on a sunny day, with the open air and the view that overlooked the quiet suburban streets, it would offer quite a nice setting for relaxing. I'm surprised Li didn't make more use of the space. The only thing he had out on the balcony was a clothes rack. If this balcony had been mine, it'd be decorated into my own personal, peaceful retreat with a deckchair and table, surrounded by a few of my favourite plants around the edges.

But then this wasn't mine; and I'd imagine something like this wouldn't be mine for quite some time yet. This type of apartment, with the amount of space this one-room apartment was offering, was something I could only wish to have after graduating from university; and that was only possible _after_ getting a good, steady job for a couple of years. Somehow though, Li had managed to afford it even before he graduated from high school.

Li's footsteps entered my ears and I turned to face him. "You've got a great apartment," I thought to compliment, truly impressed. He offered me a smile (maybe out of modesty?—I couldn't tell) before handing me a towel; I thanked him and began to pat myself dry with it.

"I'll take a look in my room and see if I can find something for you to get changed into."

Suddenly feeling some of my embarrassment return, my eyes reflexively flicked to myself before hugging the towel close; then nodded.

"Do you want to use the shower?" he asked.

I never thought about taking a shower. The plan was to get out of the rain, get changed, and then ask Li for a ride home—oh how I so wanted to get home: the whole situation with the see-through dress, being in Li's apartment, and feeling incredibly uncomfortable and unaccustomed to whatever this was stressed me out. But somewhere between the reasoning of him being so hospitable, watching him move to flick on a switch at the wall whilst patiently waiting for my answer, and my being rude for borrowing and wearing his clothes whilst wet and covered in sweat—somehow, it resulted in an acceptance:

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"The bathroom's just behind me, around the corner (he was now standing in front of the hallway)," he said. "The clothes should be waiting outside the bathroom door when you're finished with your shower."

Again, I nodded. It would seem my mind wasn't functioning properly—I wasn't able to say no to him at all this afternoon.

* * *

The spray of the showerhead was warm and soothing; there was just nothing like it after a cold and rainy day. Unlike the frigid rain that seemed intent on slapping me cold, the shower welcomed me into its embrace, nursing my ice-blue skin back to a rosy-pink with caressing warmth and relief. Had I been permitted to, I probably would've stayed in the shower forever and ran the tanks out—but a little voice in my head stopped me, telling me that I was not only being wasteful, but I was also a guest. So short moments after feeling cleansed, I forced myself out and retrieved the roughly folded stack of clothes Li had left outside.

In the stack, he had left me very common items from a guy's wardrobe: a pair of (khaki) pants and a white shirt. The last thing I ever expected to find was a girl's dress. Yet, that was exactly what I found.

Sitting at the top of the stack was a white cotton eyelet dress (I know this material because Tomoyo used a lot of the same trimming for her own designs), with subtle floral embroidery and neck ties. For a moment I held it in front of me, wondering what a dress like this was doing in Li's wardrobe. But noticing goose bumps form on my barely clad body—wearing only my underwear and having not turned on heating to settle them down—I released the thought and tried on the dress first.

To my surprise, the dress turned out to be a pretty good fit; it was only let down by the inch slack at the waist—but otherwise, the dress would've been a perfect fit. Still, credit had to go to Li for coming up with such a good substitute; I just hoped that the girl who owned the dress, whoever she was, didn't mind Li lending it to me.

Ready to leave, I draped the spare clothes from Li's pile over my arm then grabbed my damp dress and headed out of the bathroom. As I made my way down the short hallway, the fresh, sweet scent of the bathroom dissipated into an inviting fragrant aroma of another kind: food. Li was apparently in the kitchen making something. When I entered the main area, Li was by the sink, cleaning up, washing and stacking dishes; a small pot steaming away on the stove was left of him; and just to the right of him, an empty porcelain bowl and soup spoon sat. It seems while I was taking my shower, Li had been preparing an afternoon snack for himself.

He turned around to greet me, having sensed my approach, and looked to speak. But interestingly he lay silent. His lips were slightly apart; his gaze was fixed and at me. I stood in my place saying nothing as I tried to decipher the gaze. I knew this time it had nothing to do with my baring my underwear since I did just get into dry clothes. I double checked nonetheless.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked, my voice coming out more timid than I had expected. I was feeling self-conscious under his gaze, not to mention strangely warm.

Seconds passed before I saw movement. He shook his head then cleared his throat. "It's nothing." I breathed as he eased his still gaze, feeling myself begin to cool. He continued, asking, "How was the shower?"

"It was great."

"Good."

He tended to his dishes again.

"The dress looks good on you," he spoke up a second later. "I'm glad it fits."

_The dress—was that what he was staring at?_

I studied him briefly; but I found nothing that provided me an answer to the question.

"Yeah, it fits real well—thanks for lending it to me," I replied.

"No problem."

Upon the mention of the dress, I had expected for him to explain how such a dress had made it into his wardrobe—after all it is an unusual article of clothing to have in a guy's wardrobe. But it seems he wasn't going to speak of it.

"Is it alright if I leave these (Li's clothes from the stack) on the sofa?" I asked, walking over to the lounge.

"Uh. There's a plastic bag there, too, for your dress," he informed.

"Thanks."

Moving back to take my original position behind him, curiosity got the better of me: I decided to ask him about the dress myself—

"Does the dress belong to a friend of yours?"

_Maybe to a girlfriend…?_ I found myself completing in my head. I'll admit, I was curious if he had one. I've never seen him with anyone at school, but maybe he had someone I didn't know about, maybe someone from back home; maybe they shared a long distance relationship, occasionally sharing his room and his wardrobe too—

Internally, I shook my head to stop myself from trailing off further—and none of this was any of my business.

"Uh. Jinwei's," he replied. I made a conscious note to store the name in my mind. "I was supposed to include it in the package I was sending her today, but I guess I missed one."

I wasn't sure what to make of the information or what to say, so all I said was—"Oh."

"She won't mind," he replied, having obviously read something into my answer. "In fact, you can probably keep it."

"Keep it?"

Now I was confused—I wasn't sure if he was being serious or something else. There was a smile on him that suggested that maybe it was an inside joke that I didn't share, but then his tone was kind of in between so it was hard to tell. But then he continued again, and it was then it occurred to me that he really was being serious.

"Uh—her wardrobe's probably full of them," he said, just as he finished washing the last item in the sink, placing it in the dish rack. "I'm sure she won't even miss it," his tone conveying more seriousness. He moved to the stove to check on the food before turning off the element. "And if she minds—well I'm sure I'll come up with ways to make up for it."

And again, I was a little confused as his tone had returned to the previous one. Still, whatever he had meant by the last part, my interpretation was not a wholesome one. For the second time today, my head was in the gutter, twisting his words to mean other things—even I was surprised at my own preoccupation with this subject of him and Jinwei at the moment. I knew I had no basis, but the more he spoke of her, the more I leaned towards the idea that maybe Li was in a long distant relationship with this girl. Although he had not once referred to her as his girlfriend, I didn't want to be the cause of a fight between them over the gesture. I moved to say,

"I can have it cleaned and—" But he shook his head, halting me in my speech—

"You don't need to." He walked along the kitchen area, towards a hand towel that was by the oven then dried his hands with it. "I'll call Jinwei and let her know."

"She won't mind?"

He smiled. "Like I said, her wardrobe's probably full of them." His smile then shortened—his expression a little more serious; eyes soft, but direct. "But no, when I explain what happened today, she'll understand. I'm sure. Really—you can keep it," he said, extending a smile to me again.

"In that case…" Hesitation took hold of me one last time. "Please tell her I said thanks."

He nodded. "If you feel cold, (he flicked his gaze to the sofa) there's a jacket you can borrow. You can return it to me any time."

I didn't feel cold at the moment—Li's apartment was wonderfully warm, but I was sure it was a different story outside.

"Thanks."

"Are you hungry?"

I stopped and thought about the sudden question. Now that he brought it to my attention, I did feel a bit empty in the stomach. All that running and perspiration must have burned a small hole in it.

"A little," I replied. Li began to transfer all of the pot's contents—noodles and soup—into a bowl. "Is that for me?" I asked, seeing only enough noodles for one.

"Yeah…"

_He cooked for me?_

"Do you need to be home soon?"

"No—well, yeah kind of, but I'm not in a hurry." Li looked at me, confused. I tried to clear myself up. "It's just that I have a little homework to catch up on. With the things going on with the fashion magazine lately, I've kind of fallen behind a bit."

"Do you need any help?"

Quickly I shook my head. With all the things he's already done for me today, I didn't want him to think I needed more help. Not only that, my falling behind was really my own fault. Had I restrained myself from replying to every text Kansuke sent and spending a great chunk of my time doing so, I probably wouldn't be in such a position. But when it came to him, I just couldn't restrain myself.

"No; nothing I can't handle," I answered. "I just need to buckle down a bit and get it done."

A short moment later, he finished transferring the noodles to the bowl. He made his way towards the small dining table situated behind the sofa in the living area. He placed the bowl down along with a soup spoon and a pair of chopsticks. I followed to stand next to him.

"What about you?" I asked, wondering whether he was going to eat as well.

"I'm alright," he said. "While you eat, I'll try to be quick with my shower—then I'll drop you off."

"I don't want you to hurry because of me; so it's really no hurry."

"I won't be long," he maintained.

He took his leave and I was left to eat the noodle soup (it was a ramen served in a pork broth with a few slices of the meat, seaweed, and a sprinkle of spring onions). I had only taken a few soup-spoons of the flavoursome afternoon snack before Li returned.

He stood beside the sofa, scratching his head, back-turned.

Curious, I cocked my head. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh—just that I seem to have misplaced my keys."

"Have you tried the door?—sometimes I forget and leave them there." I suggested. This has happened to me before: consecutive nights cramming for my exams fizzle my brain and leaves me absentminded.

"Uh—tried there." He chortled, still scratching his head. "I think this is the first time I've forgotten where I left them."

Suddenly, a muffled polyphonic ring tone resonated through the apartment. It was the ring of my cell phone. I pushed myself up from my chair to head over to the lounge table that was ahead of me, to where I had left my tote handbag.

_Kansuke… _I just remembered that I had yet to reply to Kansuke—maybe it was him calling. With that thought, I walked faster.

I looked at the screen. It was indeed Kansuke. I had noticed that there was an envelope on the header bar indicating that I had messages waiting—I hope they weren't from him. He might think I was ignoring him.

"Kansuke," I answered.

"_Hey, babe, what happened? I've been texting you."_

"Sorry, Kansuke, I would have text you back, but I was caught in the rain."

Li, who was over by the kitchen bench searching for his keys, disappeared back down the hallway.

"_About tonight…"_ He was referring to our previous text conversation about going out tonight. _"It looks like something's come up…"_

"Oh." I was disappointed. I've been looking forward to going out with him; it was going to be our first date—well, unofficially anyway.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, curious as to what might have come up.

"_Yeah—no worries, babe."_

Kansuke's tone was the same casual tone he normally used, but it didn't keep me from suspecting that maybe Hisa was what had come up. He said to me, in not so many words, that he and Hisa were nothing more than friends—in fact, it was a one way thing and it was Hisa who approached him most of the time—not anything else. Still, I couldn't help but think that they were more than that, in spite of what he said.

I shook my head. Maybe this was paranoia and insecurity taking hold of me.

"I guess we'll go out some other time then." I replied back, trying not to sound too disappointed. Hearing it, I think I failed.

"_How about tomorrow?"_

With that my spirits lifted. I quickly agreed, "Sure—after school?"

"_How about we grab some food around six and a movie, then?"_

"Sounds great!" My stomach was doing somersaults at this moment. "Okay. See you at school tomorrow!"

"_I look forward to it. Later, babe."_

I returned the phone to my bag, satisfied at how the conversation turned out.

"You look happy."

I looked up to see Li standing overhead, in the midst of collecting the spare clothes I had left on the sofa after my shower. Apparently, he had come back to get them.

I nodded before I returned to the bowl of ramen on the dining table.

"Was that… Ashida?" Li asked. There was a curious tone as he said Kansuke's name. From the frown he sported, I summed up his tone and frown as distaste towards him.

I've come to realise that Li wasn't the biggest fan of Kansuke and nor was Li Kansuke's. Last week they had yet another confrontation—in the hallway this time—and it was much tenser than the one in calculus class. I remember seeing both looking as if they were about to kill each other. I don't know what fuelled it though.

"Yeah, it was," I answered cautiously. I took my seat back in front of my ramen, stirring the soup a bit as I wondered if I should query about their mutual dislike.

"What's... between you and Kansuke?" deciding I would.

I watched him place his keys and wallet on the lounge table (I suppose he found them) before turning to answer me. His voice calm and controlled, he responded, "I think you should ask him that."

I had; and he said that Li got on his nerves. I don't know—to me, it didn't appear as simple as he had put it. Maybe Kansuke has a complex with Li. I can't understand why he would though. Kansuke has everything: he's tall, good-looking, and popular; and Li—well, he does have some good qualities too, but he couldn't possibly match up to Kansuke.

"I know you like the guy…" Li began again. I felt myself grow warm from embarrassment—was I that obvious? "But if my opinion's worth anything, I think he's a—"

He paused. The frown which he had not lost since ending my phone call with Kansuke softened.

"Just try not to get hurt."

Then he left the room, leaving me to contemplate his words of warning.

* * *

O O O O O

* * *

For a short while, I heeded to Li's warnings and stayed weary of Kansuke—after all, Li questioned what I had also questioned in my mind. But not only have two weeks passed with no suspicious finds, it was now three weeks into my count and I've still yet to find anything. There were occasions when I caught Hisa—the one I was most concerned about—standing close and chatting up Kansuke, but I've put those down to her desperate attempts to grab his attention. Try as she may, but against me she has no chance!

Furthermore, Kansuke and I have already gone out on two unofficial dates in the last two or so weeks: the first, a dinner and movie; and the second, at the beach—both of which went incredibly well. Now, tonight, it was our third date. Although this was yet another unlabelled outing, a kiss at the end of tonight would stamp and seal it as an official date—in my books anyway. Everything looks to be on track and going well.

This was a Saturday night and we had decided on going to the arcade to play some games before heading to an adjacent hangout place for some evening drinks. I'll admit this was not really a choice we made jointly, but more Kansuke's choice. It was my way of paying him back for allowing me to pick where we went the last two dates and for making him sit through a chick-flick on the first. I thought it'd only be fair that he had the next choice. The arcade actually provided great entertainment and—although one might not expect it to—it provided great opportunities for close contact (as you will find out soon).

Half an hour playing video games, racing virtual cars, and playing air hockey, we moved onto a game of pool. Kansuke had already sunk three of his balls; I, however, had yet to sink one. Pool was not a game I was very good at. Something about the angles and trying to aim a long stick at little balls didn't come very naturally to me.

Standing at the head of the table, I eyed a solid, yellow ball, wondering how to pocket it. It sat not too far from two of my other balls which blocked the path to the corner pocket. Another ball sat behind it and it blocked the bottom centre pocket, so the only pocket I could aim for was the centre above it. The only problem was that the angle needed to pocket the yellow ball was a strange one. I had no idea of the angle needed to sink it.

"Are you going for the yellow one?" Kansuke asked from the opposite side of the table. I nodded. "Come here," Kansuke said.

He guided me by the waist, towards the corner of the table before he hovered over me. His hand pushed my stomach back, encouraging me to lean down closer to the table, before taking my wrist and guiding a few practice swings of the cue.

With each passing second we remained in the intimate position, the warmer I became and the harder my heart thumped. I felt so hot and lightheaded that I almost felt like collapsing from the intensity. Then, feeling his breath around my neck—that did it; I crumbled and lost stability.

"Sakura," I heard Kansuke call, his voice a little muffled. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?" I asked, still a little disorientated.

"I think you fainted."

"Really?"

"Only for a few seconds." He expressed a couple of chuckles. "I think that's enough of this game, don't you?—How about we head outside and get some air, eh?"

I nodded. He guided me back upright by the shoulders. We were only inches apart and the heat within me began to rise. His lips looked incredibly tasty and were so close I could have easily kissed them, but I decided to save it for a more romantic setting. The thought of sharing our first kiss with little kids and sounds of gaming machines around us sounded less than appealing. But I couldn't help to wonder what it felt like. Maybe like being in heaven?—or close to it. With that, I felt myself swoon again, but luckily a loud siren-like noise from one of the gaming machines jolted me out of it.

We moved outside. A crisp, cool, but a refreshing breeze blew against my warm body. The stars hadn't come out to play yet, as it was still early—just a short time after peak dining, but the entire day donning relatively clear skies, I was sure it was going to be a sparkling night later (definitely 'sparkling' if I had anything to do with it!). It would seem a lot of people had taken the pleasant atmosphere outside too as I saw many diners taking their food and drinks outside, laughing and talking whilst they shared a meal together.

Drawing in their energy, I smiled before taking hold of Kansuke's arm, linking mine with his. Then I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked, closing my eyes to focus solely on the feel of him.

"Tired?" Kansuke asked.

"Nope, just enjoying the night with you," I replied, craning my head to meet his eyes—his beautiful blue eyes that sparkled like shiny glass globes.

He unlinked his arm from mine to wrap it around my waist. "I hope not, I wouldn't want you to fall asleep on me—not just yet anyway."

"I won't."—there was a lot more I wanted before that happened too.

"Good."

Then I went back to take my previous position, my head on his shoulders, and we walked in comfortable silence. I smiled contently to myself. This was how things were supposed to be: me and Kansuke in each other's arms, and no one else.

But a moment later, that peace was disturbed when I heard a loud cell phone ring coming from Kansuke's jacket. He released me from his embrace and reached for it.

"Wait right here, babe."

I watched Kansuke head down the footpath, cellphone in the ear, no signs of stopping.

_It must be a very private call if he was walking that far…_

Very soon I felt like an idiot standing in the middle of the footpath alone. I decided to spend the next couple of moments strolling aimlessly, blankly looking into shop windows. But the activity quickly became dull and I sought for one of the walls of the arcade we had not long ago left to take my wait.

"Kinomoto," a voice from behind called for me.

I turned around: "Li—hi," I said, surprised.

"Night out?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about you?"

He lifted up a plastic bag with takeaway trays. The corners of his lips curling up slightly, he responded, "Getting dinner."

"You're having dinner quite late," I observed. "It's almost eight."

"Uh."

"Long day at work?"

He nodded, smiling, "Something like that."

A negligible silence followed.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Li began again.

I hesitated on revealing the person I was waiting for, but in the end, I decided that it didn't matter what I did: when Kansuke and I officially start going out, he was going to see a lot more of us together, regardless.

I nodded. "Mm. Kansuke."

His expression dropped and it was not hard to see that he disapproved—not unexpected. He's been giving me looks—frowns of disapproval for quite some time now: in the school hallway, in class—just any time I was with Kansuke. I mean, I don't blame him for not liking Kansuke. But at the same time, I wish he wouldn't send me those looks every time I was around him or at the mention of him.

"Well," he said after a few long awkward silences, "Have a good evening."

I returned the gesture: "Thanks, you too."

Li began to take his departure, but he halted his steps and stayed there for a few moments, back facing me. I cocked my head, frowning in curiosity. Then he turned around.

"You know what?" he began. His eyes twitched—"Why _do_ you go out with him?" He had said it with gritted teeth.

His sudden change of temperament had caught me off guard as I asked, "Kansuke?"

"Yeah."

It didn't take me long to find my bearings again. I responded, "I think he's… great."

He continued to stand before me with eyes that seemed to want to say more, but was not saying. More moments passed before Li resumed. This time, his tone was calmer as he stated more than questioned,

"He's still with that Yamamoto, you know that?"—Yamamoto, being Yamamoto Hisa.

I didn't know where he was going with it or what his intentions were in saying so. But controlling the slight irritation I was beginning to feel, I corrected him—

"Kansuke and Hisa are only friends; there's nothing between them."

"And you are certain about that?"

I narrowed my eyes. I was starting to think that I was right. He definitely had something to say. And it had something to do with Kansuke again.

I encouraged him to speed it along, get out whatever it was that he wanted to say rather than beat around the bushes. So, I asked him directly:

"Li, if there is something you want to say, just say it. I already know you don't like Kansuke. So what kind of negative thoughts do you have about Kansuke that you want to say to me?"

"Fine. This guy is no good for you."

"No good?"

"He doesn't care about you. How can I get you to see that?"

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?—to say he doesn't care about me."

He shook his head. "No, I'm just saying that this guy is not to be trusted. He thinks with his tool."

I felt more offended than before he spoke those words: he was telling me that Kansuke liked me only because he wanted to get it on with me?

It didn't matter. As far as I was concerned, Li was digging himself a hole. He was ruining this night by being here and bringing this up on what was supposed to be my perfect date with Kansuke.

"Look, are you intentionally trying to hurt me, intentionally trying to ruin my night by saying such things, Li?" I said, speaking my thoughts aloud.

"No. I'm just trying to protect you."

"I don't need protection."

"You're blinded by him. What is it?—looks?—popularity?"

I looked away to remove myself from his presence for a moment. He was infuriating. Regaining strength, I began again—

"Obviously you believe it. I'm a shallow girl. You got me." I sneered as I went onto a different train of thought. "You're always looking for a chance to push Kansuke down aren't you, Li?"

"I'm not looking for a chance; I'm telling you the truth—"

I rolled my eyes. "You think I don't notice your looks—your glares when you think I don't notice? Maybe you're just jealous because he's the whole package—of course Hisa and the school's female population are swooning over him. He's everything—unlike you, _Loner_."

I saw Li's expression flinch at the backward reference, and instantly I regretted it. I didn't mean to say it; it was anger talking; it just came out. I looked to apologise, but pride got in the way. Instead, I shook it off:

"Whatever—I don't care."

I added, "Besides, who I choose to go out with is none of your business."

Upon this, silence took place.

I was slightly out of breath after all that, so I took this peacetime to catch it. Li appeared to be running something through his head during this time: his face was slightly angled away from me, frown still on him, and eyes downcast. I followed the look curiously before Li's takeaway trays caught my attention.

I inwardly sighed. Why did Li have to care so much about this that he was willing to see his dinner go cold?

"Yes it is," entered Li's voice suddenly, contrastingly calm.

"How?"

He closed the space between us; extended a hand: he chose to show me rather than tell me; then cupped my face. Closer he came. I could feel his warm breath on me, his lips hovering above mine; but I didn't move—I was frozen. Strangely, my heart was thumping intensely.

Then he captured my lips; he kissed me.

I lay there continuing to be stunned, but it didn't take me long to submit to his advances: the world around me—the sounds of passing cars, the people, the wind—all these fell away as the sensuous movements of his lips took me into another. Sensations of flight, lightheadedness, and shock permeated.

He released me moments later. Slowly, I fluttered my eyes open. His brown eyes were soft and looking intently at me:

"I'm just focused on one girl in that female population," he said in a soft voice. His gaze dropped momentarily. He smiled. "And I like you, Sakura. That's why it's my business."

_He… likes me?_

"What's going on here?"

It was Kansuke's voice; he had returned.

Instantly, I moved away to create space and distance between Li and me. I returned to Kansuke's side, linking my arm with his, in an attempt to diffuse any potential confrontations between the two men.

"Nothing—Li and I were just talking," I replied—"talking about how he was about to head home for dinner."

And then I felt Kansuke wrap his arm around me, pulling me in.

The air became thick as tension built. Kansuke wouldn't take his gaze off of Li, and neither was Li willing to take his gaze of off him. I was anxious for I sensed another confrontation. I hoped desperately for it to not intensify.

A good while longer before Li moved his gaze onto me: it was direct and unmoving; and quickly I grew uncomfortable under it.

Li finally looked away (to my relief), followed by a jerk of the head—a shake—before he took his leave past me: "Yeah. See ya."

"Good riddance." Kansuke muttered after his leave.

I made no response.

About an hour later, night had finally fallen. Kansuke and I had walked around for a bit, talking about random things—schoolmates, sports, and other weekend plans. Several times he complimented me on my appearance, and normally, I would've been ecstatic, but I was preoccupied the entire time, unable to give Kansuke my full attention with the events that happened earlier in the evening still in my mind.

Now, as we sat side by side on a sidewalk bench, underneath twinkling stars, and sharing a drink (yes, one drink between the two of us), Li still continues to be on my mind. He's confused me; made me think about him. I was so preoccupied with Li that I didn't even notice Kansuke had already finished the drink and was coming back from having thrown it out.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked, standing over me.

"It's nothing, Kansuke. Everything's great." I gave him the most cheerful smile I could muster.

"Really? You've been real quiet since I took that call. You're not mad at me for leaving you all alone, are you?"

Well, the truth was, I hadn't even given it a thought—as I said, my mind had been on Li. But with the mention of it, I did wonder who it was that had held him up for so long.

"No of course not," I said, deciding to not concern myself over the fleeting thought. Too much was in my head at the moment.

"Good."

He took the seat next to me; then looked at me. "It's kind of cold isn't it?"

Somewhat—I hadn't really noticed. Nonetheless, I replied, "I suppose so."

"I can change that."

Then, to my surprise, his lips crashed into mine.

© 03 January 2008

* * *

**Comments:** Thank you to all readers and reviewers.  
**Pipi-chan, jennycuenca, neyma, Tinabedina, Adeen, and breathlessnightxx:** Thank you to each of you for reading and leaving a comment. :o) :o)  
**BrOkEn.HArTs:** The confrontation between Syaoran and Kansuke was to give you a further idea of the rapport that these two characters have.  
**oneandoneis37:** Your review got cut off again, but judging from the few words in your review, you didn't mind chapter 12, so thank you again for reading and reviewing. :o) :o).  
**insanity-ward:** Thank you insanity-ward. We're glad you enjoyed this chapter! We will pass on your congratulations to Sakura! Enjoy this next chapter :oP :oP.  
**Ihaine07:** We are worried. You seem really irritated with the Kansuke character… But still, thank you muchly once again for reading and reviewing.  
**flowers:** We're glad you liked some of the lines that we wrote in chapter 11, flowers. Syaoran was the bigger and better person; it was definitely not in his character to fall to Kansuke's provocation. The story is based on the Japanese school year. The Hong Kong school year was taken into account too, but hehe thank you for the reviews, flowers.  
**rosedreamer101:** We can appreciate that Skin-deep maybe boring for some—judging on the lack of people's enthusiasm for this story in this community. We do plan each chapter out, but since you find it pointless, we're thinking Skin-deep might not be right for you. We will understand if you prefer to stop reading Skin-deep.  
**AnonymousT:** Hey there, AnonymousT. We recognise most of our old readers when they come in; and yes we most certainly remember you! We apologise for the story's disappearance. We hope the story continues to interest you and that you continue reading. Anyway, we are glad to see you again!  
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	14. Chapter 14

**Skin-deep  
****©2008 By Julia and Tania****  
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 14  
07 April 2008**

**

* * *

****On the previous chapter:** Sakura and Syaoran finally arrive at Syaoran's apartment. Both dry up and Syaoran offers Sakura a warm noodle soup while she waits for him to take her home. During this time, Sakura receives Kansuke's messages and they postpone their date to Saturday. During this date, it is an exciting one for Sakura as she gets close to Kansuke, but it is also a surprising one as she receives a kiss from Syaoran.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Li residence  
__**Time frame:**__ Evening  
__**Point of View:**__ Syaoran_

_She likes him._

With only the streetlights lighting the streets outside my window providing the slightest illumination, I sit in the darkness of my apartment; and with the spoon of cold noodles meeting my lips, I realise that my thoughts have again wandered off to thoughts of the particular girl I want, but can't grasp onto. I've done many things, and shown her many things, but her heart is stubbornly with the guy that I have lost to.

_What else can I do to change it?_

_

* * *

_

_**Location:**__ School  
__**Time frame:**__ Lunchtime  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

My thoughts had been filled with so much of Li since that evening he kissed me that I even dreamt about him. I don't understand dreams much and what they mean, but I believe that when someone enters your dreams for the very first time, something deep down has changed; and this has only given me more unsettled thoughts and feelings that I wish I didn't have.

It was not a smart thing to do, I now realise. Why I had kissed Li back like I did, I don't know. After coming home that Saturday night from a late night movie with Kansuke (it was an action movie which Kansuke chose—a movie which got my mind off the events of the night for that length of time), that scene replayed in my head so many times that I had to slap myself that many times to try get rid of it, but I couldn't; and I couldn't stop thinking about how stupid I had been to have done what I did.

I avoided him; it was the only thing I could do. I couldn't handle the questions I was sure he'd ask me: "Why did you kiss me?" "Did you not feel anything when you kissed me?" So, I avoided talking about it: dashed out of the room, changed topics, or pretended I didn't hear him. I'd done well thus far, but I know eventually I'd have to face him and talk to him about all this, especially now that Kansuke and I have become an item and he may still believe otherwise.

This Thursday lunchtime, I made my way to the fields to a quiet spot behind the music building where it was far from the rest of the school and it provided a decent amount of sun on a cold autumn day.

I was spending it by myself today. Everyone had somewhere to be: Tomoyo and Eriol had a meeting with the school administration to discuss school matters; Chiharu and Yamazaki were spending some time alone; and my other friends had club gatherings. Kansuke, on the other hand, was away from school. I don't know the reason though. I'd called and messaged him many times throughout the morning, afraid that he had come down with something, but still nothing.

There was suddenly a call from me, from somewhere. "Hey," this person said, but even as I searched long and wide, in front and behind, round and then back round the other way, I couldn't find this person who had called me. "Look up," he then told me.

I did as he told me. I searched up the tall birch tree right of me and there, high on one of the branches, I saw Li sitting relaxed on it. It was already spectacular the height he sat at, but was even more when, in one motion, he came descending towards the ground. My jaw was dropped low and my mouth was wide in utter amazement. I couldn't imagine myself doing that without my joints shattering to pieces.

I realised I had caused myself problems by standing here and watching him descend: I will now have to talk to him about that night. And as he approached me, I grew more apprehensive. He then came to stand before me; my heart bet fast as images of that kiss came flooding back, and thoughts of what I did embarrassed me.

"Having lunch out here, too?" he asked.

"Yeah. You spend a lot of your lunchtimes up there?" I asked, returning him a similar question.

"Uh. It's very peaceful up there. It gets quite lonely, though." A corner of his lips lifted up to a grin. "Maybe you could join me up there some time and provide me some company, Kinomoto."

I had no words to that. I didn't realise he could be so forward and it was uncomfortable. I wanted to be anywhere but here with Li. I wished for an interruption—a friend who could suddenly come up to me and say they _need_ me to go somewhere with them so that I could get out of here, but there was no such circumstance. Instead, I was heading to my lunch spot with Li. He asked if he could join me and I didn't stop him. I guess, as uncomfortable and unwanted as this was I also thought that this was an opportunity as good as any to finally put all this mess to rest.

I sat myself down at the bench by the back wall of the music block. Li followed and took a seat some ways away from me to provide me the much needed space between us. For quite some time we ate our lunches in silence. I wasn't as hungry as I remembered myself to be as I took small bites of my sushi roll.

"Do you have any assignments coming up?" Li asked after a while.

"A couple."

"For modelling?"

"For school."

He nodded. "What about modelling assignments then?"

"I have one in about a week from now."

"Plenty on your plate then." I only nodded. Idle chitchat didn't interest me. This whole meeting didn't interest me. I decided to take it upon myself to get our talk started.

"That night," I began. I struggled to not falter under Li's unwavering eyes. I spoke my next words with caution. "I hope you don't think it was anything." I lost the courage to maintain eye contact and sought the ground below. Li began after a moment:

"You kissed me back that night."

"I did…" Embarrassment resurfaced and I struggled to find the right response. And then it came—I said, "Kansuke kissed me that night, too."

He had a look of shock before it changed to something like disappointment. "Why?" he asked.

I asked for an extension of the question, uncertain of the question he was asking: "What do you mean?"

"Why choose him, Sakura?" he said.

My ears perked to the last word; it didn't settle well with me. "You shouldn't call me that…" I told him.

"I'm not following," he replied, his brows furrowing.

"You called me, 'Sakura'…"

His eyes left me as he looked out onto the fields for a moment before they returned to me. "Ashida Kansuke," he began. I had to gather additional strength to hold the piercing gaze he'd directed at me: "is who you want?"

'Want' was not in question. Even if it was, 'Want' and 'Li' was never in the same sentence.

"I am with _Ashida Kansuke_," I told him.

It took him a few seconds to respond, but he nodded and said "I understand". He swung his bag strap onto his shoulder before he rose to his feet and said, "See ya." I leaned back into the wall and tucked a lock of hair that brushed across my face from the wind Li created as he walked past me. I dared not return a greeting and just let him be.

Some weeks passed for the above meeting with Li. I no longer had troubles with being in contact with him: he doesn't suddenly appear in the hallway to come talk to me; I don't find him coming over to my desk to talk before class started; and there isn't the surprise bump outside of school either. It was a strange thing, though, to have Li nowhere to be seen. He attends his classes, therefore I see him during those times, but after those, it's a mystery where he spends his time, not a sight of him during morning tea or lunchtime. I had looked up into that tree he sat on a couple of occasions and it was always empty. I didn't hate him, I wasn't an unfeeling person, so the sudden difficulty of finding him anywhere besides the fifty minutes in classes I had with him, I have wondered where he was these days.

This rainy lunchtime, I found him. He was in the library at the library computers, scrolling through the library catalogue. I had little idea of what I'd say and I wasn't sure where his feelings lay now, but I decided to make my way over to him. I slotted my book in the 'Returns' slot at the issue desk before I did so.

My reaction was slow to avoid the body-on-body collision with Li when he turned in his seat at speed and he came into me, my jaw stung and the inner part of my bottom lip sore from the unexpected biting I did because of the collision. Li had extended a hand to my arm to my aid. He released it and the concern I found in his eyes a moment before changed to one devoid of emotion. As he resumed, passing me to the study tables behind, he said,

"It's dangerous to stand so close to someone. Next time, make sure you make a noise so I know you are there." He came back with a pen from his pencil case and sat back down at the computer. I just nodded to words that told me he was still annoyed with me.

I continued to stand there as I watched him write some titles and their reference numbers down. When I realised he wasn't going to take a break from his task to talk to me, I decided to leave him to it. As I motioned to do so, he then spoke, asking—

"Are you spending lunchtime here today?"

I stayed. "No, I'm just returning a book I borrowed," I answered. "I'll be heading to the common room for lunch in a while." Li nodded. I walked to stand a little closer, pointed to the computer screen then asked, "What are you searching for?"

"I'm looking for some things on UK and London."

"UK and London?—are you planning to take a visit there?"

"I want to study there," he replied.

I watched him reach over the next computer table for a piece of cue paper, but it was a fingertip too far. I helped him grab a piece. I extended him a smile, hoping he would see I wanted us to have a conversation with each other and not continue being something like enemies. He remained reserved, however; only offered a small "thanks".

My cell phone sounded. Li returned to his task. I moved some ways away and took the call. It was Kansuke.

"Hey," I said to him.

"_Hey, the football meeting has finished. I'm in the common room now. Where are you?"_

"I'll be there soon…" Natsumi came walking into the library. She gave me a smile and a wave. I returned a smile. She past me and headed to Li. She handed him a couple of magazines and pamphlets and both started flipping through one. I returned to Kansuke and informed him, "I'm just in the library talking to a couple of people. I'll be there in a minute."

"_I bought some food, don't be long, Babe."_

"Alright. See you soon." I clicked off.

I watched Natsumi look over Li's shoulder to some travel zine that I presume was related to the search Li was doing on the library computers. She sensed me looking and looked up and gave me a kind smile.

She was still nice to me and talking to me. I gather from the way that she was still talking to me and nice to me was that she knew nothing about Li and me. I'm glad; we're friends as well as peers who worked alongside each other a lot. I wouldn't want us to suddenly hate each other over something I never wanted to happen or even saw happening.

I entered into the circle. Noticing Natsumi's dishevelled hair, I said to her—

"Bad weather today, huh? Taking shelter in the library for lunch?"

She shook her head. "No, we're just going to be here for a bit longer before we head off to the English classroom to have lunch. But yeah, gosh the weather is not nice today." She lifted her right foot and pointed to it. "I accidentally stood on a puddle on my way here and now my socks are _so_ wet and uncomfortable."

"Bad luck, huh?" I said.

"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have tried avoiding those puddles. I might still have dry socks." She chuckled and I chuckled, agreeing. She groaned as she lifted her right foot towards her and reached inside her shoes to squeeze the sides. She became unsteady. Li had noticed and turned away from the computer to extend a hand, holding her upright by the arm. The pigment in Natsumi's face changed as he helped her. Li released her once she was steady. She thanked him, the blush still clearly visible.

"Quick reflexes you have, Li," I said to him. He just nodded to the compliment. I turned to Natsumi. "Natsumi, you alright there?" I was referring to her beet-red face; she'd not realised. She just nodded, still affected by Li's grasp that had been on her arm. It took her a moment more before she looked away from where it had been and went back to normal. I continued,

"Yeah, I'm sure that I'd be soaked from head to toe by the time I get home, too. I didn't think to bring my umbrella today."

"You can ask Ashida to take you home—he drives to school, right?"

Reflexively, my gaze darted to Li thinking his head jerked at the mention of him. He hadn't as his attention stayed on the pamphlet that was now below his gaze.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.

She smiled then moved onto another topic, asking—

"So, you're spending lunch here then?"

"No, I'm going to the common room. My friends are there with some food waiting for me."

"Well, that's nice!"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to what they have for me," I replied.

The conversation was ending. I announced by leave:

"I'll be off then. I'll see you in Music class, Natsumi." She said goodbye. Li, who had been quiet and focused on his task during the conversation between Natsumi and me, was still so. I said to him, "Good luck with your search, Li." He lifted his head only for a moment to nod before returning it back down to his pamphlet.

_Still so cold_, I thought. I let him be. _I did try_, I told myself. I then made my way to the common room.

* * *

_**Location:**__ City park  
__**Time frame:**__ Evening  
__**Point of View:**__ Sakura_

I had been nervous when I first stepped out onto this five-or-so metre platform elevated above an audience made up of city goers, passer-bys, people in their cars, and many other occasional onlookers in their offices and shops in the city's central business district, but soon nervousness became excitement. I drew energy from the boisterous crowd below me and the vibrant atmosphere of this eventful Saturday.

The magazine was holding a promotional event and my job was to showcase some of the most beautiful clothes out to this evening's enthusiastic crowd. After twenty or so minutes going out onto the runway and then back into the changing area backstage, I was finally on my final run. My last outfit was a casual, yet classy, one piece, white and moss-green dress with a white, knee-length cardigan and winter boots.

I made my way down the runway. Upon reaching the edge, I stopped; I posed; and then, this being my last run, I had a little fun: I snuck in a small smirk and cocked an eyebrow before I headed back down the platform and returned backstage.

Waiting backstage for me was Tomoyo. Her eyes widened; her lips lifted up and formed a big smile; before she ran fast towards me, with arms opened, and gave me a big bear hug.

"That was so exciting!" she exclaimed. "You were so great out there. I can't wait to see it all again on video!"

I hugged her back too then released and thanked her, before I asked, "So you are finished filming for the day?"

I hoped she would say she was, for I preferred not to be filmed, especially when Tomoyo would edit it and show it to everyone and make praises about me which I always found embarrassing. But of course, hoping was all I could do. She said:

"No, we must film you in the next part when you get some of the crowd to come up on stage."

The elementary age Tomoyo was what I pictured in my head right about now. Conversation of this kind in the past always ended up like this: she would persist on filming and I would give up and give her a false smile of compliance. I was doing that now.

I then moved on and asked, "Kansuke arrived yet? I didn't manage to spot him in the crowd."

You see, I hadn't been able to see Kansuke at all today. He and I were supposed to go together to the city, but he called me an hour before we had to leave the house that he couldn't get me to this event because his sister needed a ride to her friend's place, so I had to take a ride with Tomoyo (and Eriol and her two attendants, or rather filming crew).

Tomoyo nodded, "Mm, he managed to come just before I came backstage. He didn't miss much."

"That's good he made it. You think he's enjoying the event so far?"

She smiled then told me, "His girlfriend is up there on the stage in beautiful outfits…" She paused then with conviction, she completed, "without a doubt!" She paused then added excitedly, "Oh! I instructed my filming crew to get Ashida to do a little talk on film especially for you. We can watch that when I finished editing!"

I was taken over by curiosity as I wondered what Kansuke might have said on film.

"Miss Kinomoto…" I exited my thoughts and turned to the call behind me. The events organiser, Ms. Kawano, had called me. "Please change quickly. You are needed out there," she informed.

Ms. Kawano Aiko, she was a young and extremely talented individual. I was not certain of her age, but I guessed she was in her early twenties. I have been told that she's already married and has a husband who's almost ten years older than her. I do say I am slightly intimidated when I'm in her presence: she was extremely beautiful—tall and slim with beautiful expressive eyes—and held great authority. Intimidating she was to me, but she also had a kind heart. When I asked if I could have Tomoyo backstage with me for support, she allowed it.

I immediately obliged and excused myself from Tomoyo. Quickly, I got changed into a more casual ensemble and waited for Ms. Kawano's instructions. My final task for the night was to put the spotlight onto those in the crowd with confidence, pizzazz, and attitude.

"You're on, Miss Kinomoto. Remember to turn it on when you get out there." I nodded and headed out onto the stage.

For the many times tonight, I walked out onto a crowd of several hundred. Those closer to the platform stood, while many further back took a seat on the lawn area the event was held on. The pace now a little more relaxed, I took the time to take in the crowd. I searched for Tomoyo, Kansuke, and the gang. After two sweeps, I found them. They were quite far in the back, several metres from the water fountain in this small city central park, but I could still see them. Even from this distance I could feel Kansuke's strong aura. He could stand simply in a crowd and still be the centre of attention. As I looked in his direction, I hoped he could see the smile I was giving him.

And then I returned to the crowd and began:

"Good evening everyone! I hope it has been fun so far! Are you all enjoying everything so far?"

I allowed response from the crowd. The crowd acknowledged with claps. "That's great to hear! We'll have more live music playing later in the evening, but right now I have a request from the female part of this crowd…" I took the scripted pause as I scanned the crowd. "Mm-mm, what a good-looking bunch we have this evening! I see a lot of beautiful girls and hot guys out there…" I smirked before I winked at several guys who caught my attention. "Because backstage we have some clothes left that we haven't shown to you all yet, I have a request: can I have several female individuals come help me model them? Are there any hopeful models out there?"

The crowd seemed shy.

"Come on, don't be shy! You will be one of the first people to try out some of the newest designer clothes," I tempted them.

They were still too shy.

"Well you give me no choice then. I'll have to bring some of you up here myself. Guys, will you lend me a hand," I said as I looked to the two security personnel just below the stage. "Please find some volunteers from the crowd."

The two security personnel just below the front of the stage obliged. I watched one look for a volunteer in the front row as the other walked further down. A girl, who looked to be around my age, who stood some distance from the main bunch of the crowd, caught my attention.

"Excuse me—Mr. Guard-sir…" I called the security guard standing by a small park tree at the back of the crowd. The guy didn't hear me. "Excuse me, the security guard at the back." Finally he came around and found my gaze. "Yes you, Sir. Can you help me bring that young lady near you up here?" I pointed to the left; he gestured to a young lady in pink. "No, the one wearing a maroonish jacket with the black fur collar, but bring that young lady up as well."

He asked the young lady in pink. She shook her head and waved both hands; she didn't want to come up. After some strong resistance from the girl, the security guard gave up and went onto persuading the one I had picked out. She also didn't want to come up, but she wasn't as resistant as the first girl. It took a little persuasion before she gave in and was making her way to the stage.

The two security personnel at the front found a volunteer each too, and after some minutes all three girls were up on the stage with me. Finding that all three had looked nervous, I tried to put them at ease by initiating small talk, but it didn't relax them too much more. I took them closer towards the centre of the stage and brought the girls closer to me so I could see each of them. In doing this, I discovered that I knew one of these girls; the one I had personally picked out from the crowd was actually Li's friend from Hong Kong, Jinwei.

And I was shocked to see her here. After the show, I got her to join me as I made my way to meet my friends at the water fountain.

For a while, the city streets and the cars that drove by filled the silence between us before I decided to initiate a conversation.

"Sorry for picking you out like that," I said. "If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have made you come up onto the stage."

Jinwei shook her head. "No, it's not a problem. Besides, in the end I had a lot of fun," she replied with a smile. She held up the bag of sponsored goods that she and the other girls got for their participation. "Also, I got free stuff out of it, too."

"I wanted the free stuff too, but I'm not allowed." Jinwei chuckled. "But I'm glad you had fun up there."

"Do you do this all the time?" she asked.

"I'm a part-time model for the magazine."

"You're a part-time model for this magazine? That's really great," she said with surprise.

"It's gets a little overwhelming at times, but I think it's great that the magazine is giving me this opportunity also."

Jinwei then asked me how I got the job and I told I was scouted when someone saw me at one of Tomoyo's fashion design competitions. She asked about Tomoyo's fashion design and a little more about my job. A brief silence entered before I resumed:

"It's strange to see you here at this time. School's still in over in Hong Kong, isn't it?" I asked her. Her appearance at this time in Japan was unusual to me.

She nodded, "I'll be flying back tomorrow night. I'm here to surprise Syaoran."

"You're here for a special occasion?"

"I'm not over here for any reason, really. I just wanted to see him." I found warmth in her tone, and I found it strangely curious. I dismissed it as another question dawned on me:

"So, you came to Japan by yourself?" I asked her.

"Yeah."

"And your parents aren't worried about you coming to Japan by yourself?" I asked, surprised.

"No, my parents are fine with it. They know I'm here to see Syaoran."

I wondered what relationship Li had with Jinwei's parents. But by the sounds of things, Jinwei's parents trusted Li a lot.

"I gather you haven't met up with him yet, then?" I asked.

"No, not yet." She brought her right hand up and looked at the display screen of her cell phone. "I landed in the country around lunchtime, and I spent it sightseeing for most of the afternoon before coming here where I met you." I smiled when she gave me one. "Syaoran gets off work at ten I think, so I'm going to head back to my hotel around eight-thirty or nine. I'm going to try and get to his place before he does." A mischievous grin then appeared on her lips. "Because you see, I can. He doesn't know this, but the last time I was here, I made a copy of the key to his apartment, so I could use it anytime I want!"

I chuckled as she chuckled. "That's really smart, Jinwei."

"Yeah, I think so too!" she said. Her expression then straightened as she became serious. "But I really do hope that Syaoran won't mind me stay at his place. He does seem to like his space." I agreed to the fact with a nod. "I guess I could just book out another room if worse comes to worse."

"I'm sure he won't mind," I offered. "You flew all the way from Hong Kong to see him. It would be rude if he didn't allow you to." She nodded before her expression filled with slight concern. I didn't know if she would have trouble with accommodation by the end of the night; all I knew was that I had a spare room. I offered—

"Well, if you are really stuck on finding a place to stay, then you can try me. We have a spare room that used to be my brother's."

"Really? Is that really okay?" surprised, she said.

I affirmed with a nod. "My dad should be okay with it."

She extended me a gratuitous smile. "That's really, very nice of you. Thank you, Sakura."

I saw the water fountain a couple of metres ahead of us and a part of Tomoyo's person.

"Hey, my friends are just by the water fountain over there. We are going to hang around here until the event ends. Do you want to join us for a while? That way I can give you my number and address. Also, you can fill your time with us until you go and meet up with Li."

"Yeah, sure. That'll be good actually. Thanks."

I got my friends' attention with a call and a wave. Tomoyo and Chiharu spotted me first and they hugged and congratulated me on a job well done. The many looks that came Jinwei's way, I introduced her to the gang before we all moved to a sitting area and sat down. As promised, I gave Jinwei my contact details before I felt a pair of lips on my right cheek. I turned in that direction and met up with Kansuke. He handed me a paper bag and a bottle of drink.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I bought you something to eat," he said.

It was times like these that I just loved; and he guessed right: I was hungry; and a little tired as well, but that was probably because I was hungry.

I opened the bag and found a pottle of miso soup and a tray with salad, chicken omelette, and shitake mushroom on rice. The bottle of drink Kansuke bought me was iced green tea. I thanked him with another kiss before I dug into the food.

As I enjoyed the food, my friends talked to Jinwei. The girls asked questions I had already asked: her reasons for visiting Japan; length of stay; and questions about Hong Kong. The guys were much quieter, but Eriol did praise her for her bravery of going up on stage and modelling. "I'm no where near as brave as Sakura," Jinwei said in response; then added, "I think the guts to do that again ended at the end of that runway." My other friends agreed with Eriol and told her that she was brave and had done a good job.

After the conversation about Jinwei and her modelling looked to be finished, Kansuke entered his thoughts on it: "You looked good. You should try doing that again," he said. That surprised me; and for some time, it went around in my head, wondering why he said it; and so seriously, too. But after a while, I decided to let it go; he was only being nice to someone who had just done a good job on their first go of modelling on stage.

The end of the event finally came at around quarter to nine and my friends and I were going our separate ways. Chiharu, Yamazaki, and Eriol said that they were going to continue the night by hitting the clubs; Tomoyo was going to head home to edit the footage she captured this evening so that she could get it ready for me when she came over to my house tomorrow; and Kansuke and I decided to spend some quiet time at his place.

Before Kansuke and I could do that though, we had to drop Jinwei off at Li's apartment. The hotel that Jinwei stayed at and Li's apartment were both on the way and I asked Kansuke to offer her a ride.

After dropping by the hotel Jinwei stayed at to gather her gear, check out of the hotel and then driving for twenty minutes, we finally reached the familiar lofty white building Li's apartment was in.

"Hey, Sakura: thanks for helping me direct towards the end," Jinwei said as Kansuke pulled the handbrake up. She gave a laugh in embarrassment. "I forgot how to get to Syaoran's place. I'm glad you know the way."

"No problem, I just know the street very well, that's all," I replied, disposing any questions that might arise about how I knew how to get to Li's place.

She unbuckled her seatbelt before she gathered her belongings. She had a small luggage bag, a bag of drinks, the bag of sponsored goods, and gateau. She slid her left hand through the handles of the bag of sponsored goods and the bags of drinks before she balance the gateau on her right palm of her hand. She reached for the car door; grabbed her luggage bag; then made her way out of the car.

But she stopped midway and turned back towards me. She said:

"Actually Sakura, do you think you can help me bring my luggage up? I'm afraid that I might drop the cake on the way with all this," she said as she grinned sheepishly.

"Oh yeah sure," I said. Quickly getting out of the car, I opened the side door and took hold of the luggage bag she passed to me through the door. I waited for Jinwei to come out before I stuck my head back into the car and told Kansuke—

"I'll be back in a bit; won't be long." He nodded. Jinwei thanked him for his patience before I shut the door and we made our way up to Li's apartment.

A minute or so waiting in the lobby and in the elevator, and arriving on the third floor several seconds later, a short walk down the narrow hallway we stood outside the door to Li's apartment.

I have been outside this apartment door once before and I felt uncomfortable that time. With Li and me not on good terms, it made standing outside his apartment and waiting to go in the more uncomfortable. I was glad that Li wasn't going to be on the other side when we entered the apartment—I don't know how much more I could take of his cold stares and cold comments that he gives out to me.

Jinwei struggled with opening the door as the bag of drinks and the bag of sponsored goods that dangled from her left hand hindered her efforts in putting her key to the keyhole.

"I'll hold onto those two bags for you while you get the door open, Jinwei," I offered. I took the bags from her and she thanked me.

Without the extra things, this time Jinwei got the key in. The door made an unlocking sound, and Jinwei celebrated as she quietly giggled to herself. She placed her keys back into the pocket of her jacket before she pulled the handle down. Jinwei and I proceeded to go in, but we were stopped; by some thing that was unknown to me at this time. The events which happened so quickly, and what I believed were in this order, were: shuffles of the feet; hollow knock on wood; a high shriek; Jinwei backing into me; I backed up; I yelped; before the gateau box Jinwei held in her right hand smacked into my right eye area.

I recovered moments later as I heard Jinwei say:

"I got cake, Syaoran!"

I peered a little to my left to see why Jinwei had said that. What I saw was Li and his elbow up against Jinwei's chin and neck area, looking ready to crush this intruder who had just tried to enter into his apartment.

It took a moment longer before Li finally registered that it was Jinwei before he relaxed his hold on her. A questioning look appeared on his expression. "Jinwei?—what are you doing here?"

"I was bored, so I decided to give you a visit."

He still held a puzzled look. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"Of course!" She then slipped through between him and the door as she mumbled, "Gosh, you are home so early. I thought you'd be at work still; I thought I was going to be able to get here before you did and surprise you…" She then trailed off.

Li was about to answer Jinwei's unhappy mumbles when his eyes found me. An expression of surprise plastered across his face; I dipped my head politely and explained my presence: "Jinwei needed help with bringing things in," before I showed him the luggage and bags that I had in my grasp. He stepped aside and allowed me in. I didn't look in any direction but towards the ground as I entered his apartment.

Jinwei was putting the cake on the dining table when I stopped by the couch with the luggage and bag of drinks and bag of sponsored goods still in my hands. She came over and took the bag of drinks and the bag of sponsored goods off of me and placed it on the dining table.

"Thank you for helping me and for everything else today," she said. "I want to pay you back with cake. Stay for a bit; we can have cake together."

Li came up to me and took the luggage off of me and placed it beside the couch. I thanked him, but avoided looking directly at him. I still felt bad coming into his apartment.

I returned to Jinwei to answer. "Kansuke's still out there waiting for me." Jinwei made a sound that told me she had forgotten he was still out in the car waiting. "He's probably getting very bored waiting for me, so I think I'll head off now. Thanks though."

"Okay, but wait for a bit longer," Jinwei said as I turned to head out. "I'll cut up some for you: one for you and one for your boyfriend. You can have the cake at home."

Jinwei dashed to the kitchen area and searched around a drawer—for a knife to cut the cake, I believe. She found one, but then she looked to be searching for something else as I saw her go through a cupboard. Jinwei then started to call out the item she was looking for: "Cake container, cake container. Where is a cake container?"

"Syaoran, do you have any containers I can use to store the cakes for Sakura?"

Li was already on his way to help her find one when she asked him. He went through the cupboard beside the refrigerator, but didn't find one. He went to the pantry and finally returned with one. He handed it to Jinwei.

"Thank you, Syaoran," she sang. His right brow raised as Jinwei returned to the dining table and began cutting up the cake. Li returned to his seat at the couch.

"That's one piece…" Jinwei said as she placed the first piece into the container—a rather large piece, it was, and I wondered how the second piece would fit into the container with the first piece being so large. Another large piece was coming as Jinwei's knife marked out the second piece.

"Syaoran," Jinwei called as she brought the knife down onto the cake, "can you put my luggage in your room?"

Li didn't reply immediately; he had a strange look on his face. "Put your luggage in my room?"

"Yeah. I'm sleeping there tonight."

His relaxed posture straightened as one brow rose. "Where am I going to sleep then?"

"I don't care; wherever you want," Jinwei replied, looking unconcerned, although playful. She finished cutting out the second piece. She placed the knife under the cake and slowly slid it out.

Li remained seated. He seemed to have ignored Jinwei's request, but several seconds later he made his way down the hallway behind the couch with her luggage in hand.

I was taken by the sight: he was allowing Jinwei to have her way and let her take his room? A thought not of the most innocent kind then entered by mind:—_or was it that he was going to share his bed with her?_

I shook myself off from such thoughts quickly before I went any further down that line of thinking and have unwholesome images float in my head. It was not my place to think about such things. Li came back into the room; he caught me in the midst of exiting from those thoughts; I turned my head away quickly from his view.

"Sorry it's a little squished," Jinwei said, handing the container to me.

"It's fine. Thank you for this," I replied. I turned to Li. He was standing beside the couch as opposed to sitting on it as he had done so previously. He looked to be standing in a casual manner, with his hands in his trouser pockets, but he seemed stiff at the same time. "I'll return the container to you on Monday," I said to him.

"It's not necessary," he replied. "You can keep it."

I wanted to say that I will return the container back to him, but I went against the thought and nodded to the preference he had made.

"Here are some drinks as well," Jinwei said as she handed me two cans of drinks in a plastic bag. "It's my favorite."

I took it and thanked her again. I then made my way towards the door to head out. Li followed behind. I stood aside when I reached the door to allow Li to undo the keychain. He opened the door for me. I stepped out then turned back.

"Thanks," I said to him.

"Uh." Again, he stood like he had done so moments ago: hands in his trouser pockets, casual, yet stiff at the same time. "Thanks for helping Jinwei." A small smile spread across his lips.

It was so long I saw him smile at me. And even though the smile was small, I was happy. I was about to answer him back when I caught onto a fragrant smell. It had come from Li and I got lost in it for a moment as I tried to decipher the scent. However, it only lingered for that one brief moment. I couldn't smell the pleasant scent anymore.

I returned my mind back to the present moment and answered Li. "It's no problem. We had fun together." I then held the container with the cakes out. "I'll finish this and return it to you on Monday."

"Uh."

I motioned to leave, but he called out and said—"Ashida…" I turned back at the mention of Kansuke. I anxiously, but also fearfully, waited for his reasons for speaking of him. "His car is ready. My boss says he can pick it up tomorrow."

It wasn't about Kansuke, but his car. Kansuke had taken his car back to the place where he got the door fixed from having had a minor accident on his way to school on the day that I couldn't get through to him. The driver's side door got beat up and was stripped off of some paint after having collided with a right-turning car. Kansuke liked the paint job that they (Li's workplace) did on the door that he brought it back to them to redo the whole car. Tonight Kansuke drove his parent's car.

I relaxed and nodded. "Thanks, I'll tell him that. He'll be very happy to hear that. He says you guys do a very good job."

"Thank you. We're glad our customers are satisfied with our work," he said.

"Mm. Anyway, I better be off. See you on Monday."

"Uh. Have a good weekend."

"You too."

I had turned to leave, and I felt the door to Li's apartment shutting, but I couldn't end it here—not just yet. I was not yet satisfied. The way he talked and acted around me tonight was definitely a whole degree better than the other encounters I've had with him so far, but I needed to know—I needed to know in words that he and I were okay. I turned back and quickly called for him before he fully shuts the door on me—

"Li!" I made it in time as there was only a two-inch gap between the door and door frame. Li opened the door again. He stood; then leaned against the brown wooden door with not any particular expression on his face. He waited for me to continue. "Are we… good?"

He stayed expressionless and silent after I completed my question; I wondered if he was going to dismiss it. But a moment more, his expression ever so slightly softened; he gave a small nod before he gently shut the door behind him.

His confirmation of us being okay was small, but it was enough; it was enough for me to be satisfied.

© 07 April 2008

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**Comments:** Thank you to all readers and reviewers.  
**flowers:** Thank you flowers for returning and reading this fanfic. Yeah, Sakura is very lucky have two kisses. She should count herself lucky to be able to kiss Syaoran hehe. We are glad you like the way we revealed Syaoran's feelings towards her. Sorry for the very late update. Thank you muchly for reading and reviewing again! xoxo  
**Ihaine07:** Mm, we can see how the character annoys you with such an experience. It's always hard to see that your friend in such a situation. We hope you find this chapter less irritating and that you enjoy this chapter a little more than the last chapter. Thank you so much for continuing to read this fanfic!  
**BrOkEnHArTs:** Yeah he kissed her. But… we hope that you aren't too disappointed with the way things turned out… (sorry in advance).  
**Yami Umi:** We hope it didn't change course too fast. Sakura's reaction in this chapter—was it what you expected?  
**infiniteternity:** We do have to say that we do make Kansuke quite irritating, but he's just your typical "evil" guy in this story. He's not too threatening so far is he?—nah! Enjoy!  
**Tinabedina:** Thanks so much for leaving a comment!  
**insanity-ward:** Sakura and realising Kansuke's a b-tard—she was quite 'dense' when she was little, she still hasn't grown out of that, we suppose! Still 'hopeful' to getting her dream man that she's pined after for most of her high school years, eh?  
**Sakuramsn:** Welcome to the story. Thank you for reading from start to the end—13 chapters, it must have been really tough to do huh? so we congratulate you for getting so far and thank you so very much for your comments.  
**AnonymousT:** Thanks for leaving two comments! Julia and Tania are very happy. When you have someone like the Li Syaoran teaching, school's just like playtime—all fun. Thank you for your encouraging words too! There might not be many more Syaoran's POVs here on in. We basically know enough about him. The ball's is pretty much in Sakura's court now. Hopefully, this chapter entertains you—though we're sure it is not exactly what you (or the others) are hoping to see happen.  
**obsessive me:** We're afraid this chapter might be back to the "annoyingly slow progression" status. Still, we hope you will find something good in this chapter. Thanks for the comment!  
**READER, mac&cheese, girllyyy girl, DHESTESDE:** Thank you for the comments. We're glad you liked the story. Please come again!  
**rosedreamer101:** Yes you are right, Sakura isn't quite there yet. Thanks for leaving a comment!  
**oneandoneis37:** Yeah thanks! The review did comment full. Yes you are making sense and thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule to read the previous chapter! We still have a lot of things to learn with writing, but thank you so much for your positive words!  
**Whitewave16:** Thanks so much for reading. Syaoran made his move, but what about Sakura? Sorry!  
**tinkerbellie:** Hehehe, sorry for the late update. Thanks for reading, we hope to see you again and hope it's good.  
**Red-Emerald:** Thank you for deciding to review this story. We've been told our story is draggy and slow. We realise it may not be interesting, but there are subtle details that help the story move as a whole. Thanks again.  
**kauju-gaki-kawaii:** Sakura and Syaoran hasn't broken yet, they're still sticking… hehehe. Thankies!  
**Misaki Love:** Thanks for you enthusiasm for the story. Sakura is misguided when it comes to relationships. Hot does not equal Kansuke. She was never good at maths, but she is getting better!  
**thepurplemaiden:** Thanks for coming in and reading so very much. We hope you return and enjoy this chapter!  
**q.t a.k.a spice:** Yeah -giggles- Syaoran does love Sakura. -grins-


	15. Chapter 15

**Skin-deep  
****©2008 By Julia and Tania  
****CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 15  
26 October 2008**

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****On the previous chapter:** Sakura tells Syaoran that she can't return his feelings because she is with Kansuke. The days following, Sakura finds out that he is not happy with her decision and she regularly encounters a cold Syaoran, to which she is not accustomed to and tries to talk to him. The situation between her and Syaoran doesn't get any better until Sakura bumps into Syaoran's friend, Jinwei, where she helps Jinwei take her luggage up to Syaoran's apartment.

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_**Location:**__ Sakura's room  
**Time frame:**__ Wednesday  
**Point of View:**_ _Sakura_

My eyes flipped open to a string of loud, mind-rattling beeps; whatever dream I was having slipped away along with a few thousand of my brain cells. Forcefully, I slammed my hand over the top of my alarm clock and felt my victory as it fell flat on its face in silence on the ledge above me. Sluggishly, I dragged it down the headboard and under the sheets to bring it to my view.

_Six-thirty_, I determined._ Five more minutes…_

I had decided that sleeping an extra five minutes wasn't going to make much of a difference to the beginning of my morning. Not only that, six-thirty was early anyway. So, indulgently, I closed my eyes to rest them for a little while longer.

"Sleeping Monster… time to get up!" I heard all too soon.

My ears popped before they were again assaulted by a scraping noise. Everything became blindingly bright (the result of undrawn curtains). Quickly I crawled underneath the sheets for protection.

"Huh, Touya?—what are you doing here?" my voice coming out raspy.

He didn't answer. Instead, he just left. Internally, I sighed, thinking about how my brother was a grown man and yet he's still into playing such childish, mean games on his sister. It didn't matter though; I wasn't the little kid he used to tease when we were younger. I was a lot older, a lot smarter, and I'll just get him back when he least expects it.

Happy with my own resolve, I lay underneath the sheet's warmth for a few moments longer. I smiled at the _marshmallowy_ cocoon I was under. If I had to pick something I liked about winter, it was being able to snuggle underneath layers of sheets and blankets and feeling their enveloping warmth. And if I had to pick a bad thing, it was getting up, which I realised was what I had to do now, or I'd be late to school.

So popping my head back up above my sheets, I stretched out my arms, giving my body a satisfying stretch before returning one of them back underneath to feel for my alarm clock. When I finally found it and brought it to my view, I almost fell out of my bed. The clock indicated five to eight; and school started at eight-thirty. I was supposed to be up twenty five minutes ago. I was late… I was more than late!

Rushing to the bathroom in a stumbling heap, I began my morning routine: I took my shower then dried my hair before putting on my make-up. I was actually making up good time at the speed I was going—that was until my eyeliner ran past the corner of my right eye and up towards the brow bone.

I cursed and reached for the make-up correction pen I had in my make-up box. But as luck would have it, it had dried up. Another curse escaped me as I wondered why—of all times—it had to dry up today. I settled for a moistened q-tip and began erasing the extra length. But instead of fixing the problem, it smudged the line as well as the eye make-up, making it worse.

Defeated, I whimpered at my futile attempt to make up lost time. There was no way I could go to school looking like this; I looked like I had a bruise on my eye. I was definitely going to be late now.

Then unexpectedly, the bathroom door opened. I turned curiously in the direction, wondering who it could be. To my surprise, Li walked in.

He said nothing when he entered; he simply offered me a smile before moving to wash his hands in the basin next to mine.

Grabbing my make-up mirror, with a fresh q-tip in hand, I turned away and continued my business away from his view. I couldn't really concentrate with him in the room though. His presence was making me incredibly uncomfortable. I was looking like a panda, trying not to look like a panda, and he was next to me washing his hands—and so slowly too.

My gaze flicked towards him, watching—maybe a little out of impatience and maybe a little out of curiosity as well. He continued to lather. It took me one more flick of my gaze before he finally finished. He shook off his hands before making his way towards the hand towels. I turned in the opposite direction, ducking lower and moving my mirror closer to my face to keep it away from his view.

After pulling a couple of hand towels from the dispenser and drying off his hands, he finally made a move towards the direction of the door. But instead of making it all the way there, he stopped. He reached over my shoulder and pulled out a face towelette from the packet I had sitting in front of me (something I hadn't realised was sitting there before). He turned me around to face him; I stood there, frozen in place, staring back at him with my panda-of-an-eye.

"You're beautiful no matter what you have on your face," he said, his voice soft and deep.

For some time, he stayed standing in front of me, staring, as if waiting for some sort of response. I decided to offer him a smile. He seemed satisfied and returned a smile before he moved to work on the smudge above my left eye.

Seconds later, he was finished. He flicked the towelette off to the side and I watched him step closer, the gap between him and me dangerously small. But I made no move to back away as I tried to grasp the situation and decipher his intentions through his gaze: I saw deepened brown and flecks of golden desire stare back at me.

Quickly, it became obvious to me what he was thinking—what he wanted. My heart started to thump, anticipating his move to close the distance between us completely; my breathing became shallow; and my body growing warmer every second that passed under his gaze. Then, before there was even enough time to register his advance, I found myself expressing a moan of pleasure in his skillful mouth.

His foot tapped the sole of my shoe; I travelled backwards; continuing to until I was backed up against the wall behind me. There, a trail of electrifying warmth travelled down my bare arms as his hands caressingly slid from the top of my shoulders down to my hands. He moved to thread his fingers through mine, and slowly, he brought my hands above my head then—_Oof_—with force, he pinned them down with a hand of his. He pressed his body up against mine as his kiss, once gentle and soft, intensified, causing me to enter into a frenzy of uncontrolled desire.

I could feel a part of him harden against me; and I began to burn and throb below, wanting him to take me then and there. But he kept me restrained, asserting his power over me and my senses. He used his kisses, his tongue and his warm breath to tease me, finding all my weak spots (and more)—and he continued until he drove deep into me an insane desire for him.

Then finally, he let go of my hands. Without a moment wasted, I made quick use of my newfound freedom and tore off his shirt as we stumbled aimlessly away from the wall. His belt was the next to go—and not a moment too soon as far as I was concerned. I was going to have him…

No I had to have him—

_Bang!_

_Huh?—wh-what was that?_ My eyes flipped open, startled by the sudden noise. Double white doors greeted me; I stared at them, disorientated.

_Pink curtains… wooden study desk… my tote bag…?_ These were the items in my room I found in my scan, and from that I soon realised I was in my room, in my bed, and I had been woken up from my sleep. It was morning and—

_Euh, it's so hot!_ Immediately, I flung the blankets away from me, letting the cool air dry the sweaty feeling from my body.

Then wondering what time it was, I rolled onto my front to look up at my alarm clock. It wasn't where I thought it would be though. So leaving the ledge, I searched beside me and found it lying next to my pillow—_I must have reeled it in again_. I picked it up just as a yawn surfaced; I read it through watery eyes: _Seven-fifty…_

Suddenly, realisation hit me and I bolted to the window. I tore apart the curtains then looked down onto the street. There it was; Kansuke's black car parked on the side road; and half way up the path to my house was:

"Kansuke!"

That noise I had woken up from; it must have been his car door. I could not believe I overslept. Kansuke and I were supposed to meet at seven and head out for breakfast just before school began. It was his football final (or soccer final as some might be more used to) today, and we thought it'd be a great idea to get a big breakfast in before he took on our visitors (who annually took part in the sports exchange between our two schools). I don't know why I always do this.

Hurriedly, I sprinted downstairs to leave the door open for Kansuke before sprinting back up to make a call to him.

"_Hey, I'm just outside your house,"_ he said, picking up.

"I know. I'm not ready. I woke up late. I'm so sorry, but can you give me twenty minutes?"

"_Yeah."_

"Thanks, Kansuke. Oh, the door's already opened." Then I clicked off and quickly began my rushed morning routine—all the while—feeling completely embarrassed for making Kansuke wait below.

He had teased me about this the night before. He was saying how I had a habit of being late in the mornings and suggested that we go for breakfast another time—like in the weekends; because we didn't have to be anywhere on time. Then he laughed. But I didn't think it was funny because I _could_ get up on time. I had told him how I was going to prove it to him too by being ready and waiting at the door even before he arrived.

Well that hadn't happened. All my huffing and puffing ended up to be just hot air (as you can tell now). I really should learn to get up when the alarm clock rings. I wouldn't be in this situation had I not decided to sleep past it; and I definitely wouldn't have to constantly check to see if I had put on my make-up right or if my skirt was pulled down properly at the back from rushing so much. Twenty minutes was just not enough time to do everything.

In fact, I barely made it in thirty—I better prepare myself for a huge teasing. Making my way down the stairs, I descended them in a fast run before I slowed down to a normal walking pace at the bottom. Mumbled voices were heard as I made my way down the hall, and I linked them to the television. Kansuke must be in the lounge watching it.

Walking into the room, I called for him. He turned to face me, answering the call:

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded, embarrassed. "Well, let's go then," he said simply. He then turned the television off with the remote before waiting for me to walk out the door with him.

"I'm so sorry for making you wait," I apologised some more.

I felt guilty and—as I had mentioned many times already—embarrassed for the amount of time I had taken. Even now, as we walked down the path towards his car, he'd made no move to tease me or look even the slightest bit annoyed. He was quite laid back about it which surprised me because most guys I know wouldn't let me off that easy. In fact, not even my friends let me off without at least a little teasing; and if positions were changed and I was him and he was me, I'd probably give me a little teasing too, but all he said in response to my apology was:

"It's all good, Babe," before opening the front passenger door for me to get in, "After you." He then got into his side of the car. "I know it takes time to look good," he added.

I didn't know whether to take that comment as a good thing or a bad thing—was that the teasing?—or was it meant to be understood as his way of saying that he understands that a girl needs time to be presentable in the morning… or should I be offended that he thought I needed the time to look good?

Dismissing the thought, I offered him a smile and returned a kiss (as he had leaned in for one).

"So… a late night?" he began again.

"The whole night you were up on the phone with me—you should know."

"It could have been a lot longer if only I was able to convince you to come over to my place last night."

At that, I stiffened, but not in reaction to Kansuke's suggestive comment, but to the images that suddenly flashed through my mind. His comment brought on images of Li, me being pressed up against a wall and him kissing me—images to a dream I hadn't recalled until presently. As more images came to memory to form a fuller scene with thoughts and feelings, my smile fell and I turned away to stare out onto the road ahead, confused.

For so long, I haven't thought about him—not at school, not at home, not in my spare time. After we got past the whole confession, avoiding each other, and then having Li tell me—more or less—we were okay again, there was nothing more—there shouldn't be anymore for me to deal with. Come to think of it, we haven't even been in one place together long enough to have a decent conversation recently (I put our lack of contact down to Li's studies—as final exams are nearing—and work and my busy schedule with school, modeling, and Kansuke); so there hasn't been an opportunity for him to say or do anything that would give me anything to think about.

Yet, I obviously was. I might not be thinking about him during the day when I was awake, but seemingly I was during my sleep—which I'd say was worse. Now, I was not only confused, but troubled—troubled by his sudden appearance and more so by the way he had appeared in it.

"What's wrong, Babe?" Kansuke entered.

I turned back quickly, realising how serious I must have looked to him. "Umm… nothing," I lied. Trying to assure him, I added, "I was just thinking if I forgot anything at home."

"Is that all?" I nodded firmly. "Don't look so serious. If you have, we'll go back and get it after breakfast."

I leaned my head on Kansuke's shoulder. He reached over with a hand and stroked my hair, the contact comforting me. "Thanks, Kansuke," I said absently.

Moments more in the car and we finally arrived at our destination. I was met with a little eatery (and I say it not in a negative way; it was little, but in a nice intimate way) that had seats and tables set close together; so close that if you were to sit at the front of the eatery, you could have a nice conversation with the staff standing behind the counter. The most noticeable, though, was the aroma of freshly cooked sushi rice and grilled food wafting the street even before you walk in.

Simply looking forward to trying out the food in this tasty-smelling place, I had finally gotten Li and the dream off my mind. My mind was clear and ready to enjoy a lovely breakfast with Kansuke when another troubling scene threatened my chances of that.

Having left to the bathroom to clean my hands (they had come into contact with something sticky on the menu when I placed my order for my pancakes), I returned to see Kansuke and a young waitress not too much older than me talking and smiling together. I wasn't sure what they had been talking about, but it involved a piece of paper which Kansuke had taken from her and was in the midst of putting into his trouser pocket.

She left, but not before turning back once more to look at Kansuke—almost as if to see if he would turn to look at her as well. Although he didn't notice her look over the shoulder, Kansuke did look pretty happy about their whole exchange.

"I'm back," I announced, calmly walking up to our table and trying to act normal. "What did the waitress want?"

"Nothing, Babe. She was just bringing the food over to the table," he said—which wasn't a lie as there was a plate of pancakes, tea and a grilled fish set on the table where there wasn't before.

"Really?" He nodded, making no reference to the piece of paper. I know I was going to sound like a jealous girlfriend, but I had to know what was on that paper. So continuing, I eyed his pockets, asking: "What did she give you?"

I saw a twitch of his head, as if surprised that I had seen the act. But that was all the reaction I got. He then reached into his right side to retrieve the piece of paper in question and openly admitted to what I believed was on the paper:

"You mean this?" he said, "She gave me her number." I stiffened as I prepared myself for the possibility of hearing something I didn't want to hear. "I didn't want to hurt her feelings," he elaborated then he scrunched it into a ball before throwing it into the center of the table like it was trash. "I wasn't going to use it."

I stared at him, searching his eyes. Although his actions seemed genuine, I did have trouble accepting the explanation. This wasn't the first time he had girls offering him their numbers; and although I've never seen him act on any of it, I couldn't help but have this unsettling feeling deep within me whenever a girl showed interest in him.

I knew he was popular with the girls before we started going out; and it wasn't a problem then because it just showed me how desirable he really was. Now though—now that I'm his girlfriend, I wished that they'd stop coming up to him. Not only that, I wished Kansuke would stop being so friendly with them because he was with me now and shouldn't be paying any attention of that kind to any girl but me.

"Breakfast," he said suddenly, eyes moving to the food on the table. "I'm hungry. You should eat it too, Sakura—before it gets cold."

My gaze lingered on him, disappointed he had moved his own away from me so easily. But deciding to let it go for the sake of not ruining the occasion, I cut into the pancakes and began eating my breakfast.

For a long time, clinks and slurps were the only sounds at our table. We ate in silence, neither of us speaking. I was beginning to feel annoyed at his complete disregard for my feelings—or more like, he didn't even seem to realise that he had done something wrong. But just as I was beginning to lose hope, he spoke and apologised.

He realised it was wrong for him to take the waitress' number and for not rejecting her straight out; and although I knew he was joking about the following, he even begged me to think of something horrible to punish him so that it'd teach him to never accept another waitress' number. When I declined to do so, seeing the exercise unnecessary, he decided he'd come up with some of his own. He had come up with such ridiculous punishments for himself that I couldn't help but laugh and accept his apology.

Really, I just don't know what I was going to do with him—one moment he's flirting with girls, making me feel horrible and inadequate, and then the next he's got his hands cupped and begging me to forgive him and making me feel like the most important girl in his life.

But in the end, everything between us worked out okay. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast together, we were full, and we had plenty of energy for the day ahead. We left the eatery talking about Kansuke's football final this afternoon. He was so excited that he couldn't stop talking about it. The whole entire drive back to school he was saying how he couldn't wait to play this afternoon because he was the man and his team (Kansuke being the team's captain) was going to be soaking in victory by the end of the day… or something like that. Kansuke was definitely pumped up, and seeing how excited he was I too couldn't help but start to get a little pumped up myself.

I arrived at school shouting and laughing before running off into the school's football pitch and kicking a few rounds with the ball to burn off some of that unexpected peak of energy. It only lasted for a short while though, because after several mostly failed attempts trying to get the ball pass Kansuke, I decided to take a rest on the bleachers to spend the rest of the time watching him practice his drills—at least that was what I had planned to do; because when I got out my cell phone to look at the time, I was late.

Amongst the shouting and the running, somehow I missed the warning bell for class because the second bell was about to go any moment now. So grabbing my tote bag, I jumped off the bleachers, ran over to kiss Kansuke goodbye before running like mad to homeroom. Normally, Kansuke and I would be making our way to homeroom together, but as today was the football final, Kansuke was excused for the morning to train (which didn't officially start for another twenty minutes, so he not only gets the morning off, but he could have slept in too. Football guys get such special treatment!).

I was a corner away from entering the hallway entrance when my shoulder collided against another. I felt myself spin around before a stinging pain echoed down my arm.

"Ouch…" I said, rubbing my right shoulder.

"Sorry." I looked up to see Li standing in front of me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Without knowing, my gaze had moved to Li's hands (they had taken hold of my shoulders—the right one rubbing my arm slightly) and I suddenly froze. I wanted to answer him, but unexpectedly, my mouth had dried up, my heart was beating against my chest, and I just didn't trust my voice to come out right. So instead I nodded.

"Are you sure? Do you want to go to the nurse's office?" Again, I shook my head.

When he released me from his hold and lowered towards the floor, I took the chance to hydrate my lips, breathe deeply, and recompose myself. Half-way through my exhale, I realised he was picking up the things that had splattered onto the floor—my things.

Quickly, I crouched down, waving my hands to get Li to stop: "You d—I'll do it…"

"It's okay," he insisted, picking up a book, a few pieces of stationery before reaching for my tote bag to put them all in for me.

He handed my belongings back to me.

"Thanks, Li," I managed to say, returning upright. At the same time, the final bell also sounded.

"It looks like class has started," he said, articulating the bell's warning.

He lowered his gaze to look directly into mine, taking a step forward. My breath hitched and I felt my head swim a little, barely catching his question,

"Are you sure you're alright?" I nodded distractedly; he smiled. "That's good," then he left, leaving me in my place to stare at his retreating back.

Mr. Hisamatsu had already made a start on the daily topics of discussion by the time I got to homeroom (Mr. Hisamatsu has been previously introduced as my calculus teacher, but he's also my teacher for homeroom). I took my usual seat at the back, just next to the door and stared at the whiteboard at the front. My hand lay cupped against a cheek, leveraged by an elbow, feeling its warmth, whilst my heart continued to thump against my chest.

What happened back there? All the other days I had been fine in Li's presence; I didn't freeze, I didn't heat up, and I definitely could talk in front of him. Even as recent as yesterday, when I stopped to say a brief hello to him in Calculus class, I was fine. But today, I bump into him, and all of a sudden I was frozen and unable to even say a simple 'yes' to tell him that my arm was fine.

I suppose it might have something to do with the dream; after all, it was what had popped into my mind when he held me by the shoulders. But then I hadn't really figured out what the dream meant so it didn't do much to enlighten things.

Then there was that penetrating gaze of his. I guess if I was to be honest about it, I've always been affected by it one way or another. Something about Li's gaze, the way he looks at me with those eyes, it had always made me nervous. It didn't matter if his gaze was on me because he was waiting for me to answer or he was listening to me speak, it always made me think that with one look, he could see into my mind; read my thoughts; or figure something out about me that even I wasn't aware of.

The only difference between all the other times and this time is that I've never in the past become so speechless, so immobilised by it. I don't know; the incident in the hallway, the dream, it's all so confusing.

Unable to sort it out myself, I decided to take it up with Tomoyo. She had always been the one I went to whenever I had anything I needed to sort through, but not only because she was my best friend, but because she was so insightful about things such as life matters. My chance to talk to her came during morning recess, after listening to her amazingly beautiful voice in the music room (we had decided to go there so she could practice her choir solo in front of me). But what I had decided to talk to her about was not specifically concerning Li, but rather more along the lines of what she thought about dreams and their meaning.

"Hmm… they can mean many things I suppose," Tomoyo answered in thought.

"Like…?" inviting her to elaborate.

"Like… When I was really stressed out about an important fashion show I had to do, I dreamt about not finishing on time; or a piece of the outfit is missing. I even dreamt that a twister appeared and blowing them all from my hands, and I was dangling off the hem of the dresses, trying to save them from flying off into the sky (I let out a giggle at the last image; Tomoyo can be so funny sometimes). For that dream, I put it down to nervousness I had or worry over the fashion show coming up."

Tomoyo continued to add to her answer: "Dreams are cryptic though and don't always present a literal meaning. Still, I guess it could represent a fear; a desire; a need—I read somewhere that it could be a way of working through something you can't in real life…"

_Desire… For what?—for Li?_ I thought involuntarily. Internally, I shook my head off the thought.

"Sakura," Tomoyo called. I redirected my attention to her. "I'm thinking something you dreamt is making you ask me about this?" I nodded shyly, knowing she was going to ask me about it—and she did: "What was it about?"

"I-It's kind of embarrassing."

"You can tell me. I promise I won't laugh."

Moments of hesitation took place as I weighed the risk of telling her and being embarrassed—but hopefully relieve my burden of keeping this dream to myself—versus not telling Tomoyo and suffering with the images alone. After staring into Tomoyo's reassuring violet eyes and recalling her title of 'my best friend since we were little children', I was soon encouraged to go ahead and tell her about the dream I had about Li.

I began to go into the dream, mentioning Li, his involvement, the actions and the sensations. The entire time I was telling Tomoyo my dream, she sat still, listening to it without judgement; and as promised, she not once laughed which made it easier to tell it. She did however have a few raises of the eyebrows, but nothing I couldn't take.

When I finally finished telling it, she made only one comment; and that was in regards to how she found Li's appearance in my dreams to be sudden and unexpected since he and I had so little association with each other. It was at this point I felt the need to tell her all that I've been holding out on her; that he'd been in my life a little more than I'd been letting her in on. I mentioned how he had helped me several times already: how he'd helped me with my calculus, how he'd saved me from the rain once, how he'd stayed with me in the tent when everyone was at the campfire listening to ghost stories, and how he'd cooked for me too; and then finally how he'd kissed me one night.

"He kissed you?—when?!" Tomoyo cried as I told her the last part, her voice having gone high-pitched.

A little afraid of the repercussions of not having told her sooner, I answered with hesitation: "…Weeks ago."

She then leaned in to take hold of my shoulders. "And you didn't tell me?!"

I didn't know what to say except answering sheepishly with: "I didn't think it was important."

"Not important?—Sakura! There seemingly is this other guy—"

"There is no other guy," I corrected, but she ignored me.

"—that I didn't even know existed there. We're supposed to be best friends—we tell each other everything."

"I know Tomoyo. I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. It's me. I just… I guess I just didn't want to think about it."

"Okay let's put that aside. The question is: what did you do?"

"I…" my voice then went quiet again, "…kissed him back."

"Then what happened?"

"Then Kansuke turned up."

"He caught you?"

"No, he turned up after the fact."

"Did you tell Kansuke?"

I shook my head. "We weren't really that serious yet, so I didn't think I needed to."

"What about Li then?"

"Nothing—he said he liked me, and I said I was already going out with Kansuke. For a while we both avoided each other, but now we get along fine. We see each other at school and we talk sometimes."

"What did you think of the kiss?"

"What did I think of the kiss?" I repeated, caught off-guard by the question. "He's… good," I decided to say.

"Just… 'good'?" I nodded. She obviously disagreed with my answer. "I don't know Sakura, you can't dream about someone like that for him to be just 'good'."

"But Tomoyo, you just said that dreams don't always mean what they show…"

"I know. But think about it, Sakura, after all Li's done for you—and he's done so much—the confession… the kiss; are you sure that he hasn't gotten under your skin? Have you considered that maybe he's starting to make an impression on you more than you know?"

I wasn't too sure about what to think of Tomoyo's thoughts on the situation. She had always been the perceptive one and I've always believed that when she saw something, it usually was not too far off from what was real. I guess I could accept that Li was starting to make an impression on me. He is a nice guy, he's really helpful, caring, and he's smart; I'll even admit that there was something about his eyes too, but does it mean that I was warming up to him in the way she was implying…?

"You know what Sakura?" entered Tomoyo's voice. I lifted my eyes to look at her. Her expression drew my full attention and it made me sit still and wait for what she had to say next. "If I was Kansuke, I'd be worried because he might have a bit of competition soon."

I sat there in still silence, taken aback by her conclusion of the situation; and I stayed that way until the bell rang not long after. After thanking Tomoyo for listening to me, I headed to class with me in my head. I was pretty much back where I was before morning recess: I was back in my seat, sitting in (History) class, and thinking about Li—except, before he and I were just images in my dream. Now though, after talking to Tomoyo, somehow, she had made the possibility all that much more real.

Yes, I've come to respect Li for all he's done for me; but I just wasn't so sure that Tomoyo had it right this time. She may be more perceptive than most, but she just had to be wrong about this one.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling a slow exhale. My mind; it couldn't process any of it anymore. Eventually, it went blank.

* * *

Lunchtime rolled around and I was glad to be with Tomoyo and my friends again instead of being stuck in class and in my head. Their company as well as the football game that I was watching at the moment was a welcoming distraction. Standing on the sideline of the football pitch with me were Tomoyo, Rika, and Chiharu, as well as Natsumi and her friend Tomoko—both of who had happened to have chosen the same side of the pitch to watch the game from. We had just seen the first half end with the visitors scoring just before the whistle went; and we were now waiting for the players to take a quick breather before the second half got underway.

"I wish it was our team scoring that goal instead of the other team," Natsumi commented next to me.

"I think if Yamazaki and Eriol were here, we'd be the ones in the lead," Chiharu replied back.

I agreed with her. Considering it had been an evenly matched game—that was until the very last second when that goal was scored—I, too, believed that, had Eriol and Yamazaki been here, we'd most likely be the ones celebrating the first goal of the game instead of the other team.

But they were both at home; recuperating. Some two or so weeks ago some nasty flu virus had rendered them unable to play. But they weren't the only one's being hit by the virus. It spread itself through two more players in the team and a good number of the reserves too, causing them to all drop out before the competition even started.

It was like some epidemic outbreak within the football team and it had caused such a headache for our football coach, Mr. Ogata (who's also our P.E. teacher). With the number of players out due to the flu, he faced a possibility of withdrawing the team from the exchange. Luckily though, through his persistence, he found barely enough replacements to keep the team in the competition.

"They're back," Natsumi announced.

I turned back to the game to see the teams taking their position. Seeing Kansuke, I cheered him on, "Come on, Kansuke. Show them what you've got!"

"Go, Li!" Natsumi chimed in.

My gaze left Kansuke to focus on Li. As Natsumi had so energetically cheered for, also running onto the pitch was he.

What I failed to mention when I collided into Li this morning was that he was dressed in the blue and white colours of the school's football uniform; and that he was heading in the opposite direction because he, like Kansuke, had pre-game practice with the football team.

Apparently, Li was one of the guys Mr. Ogata had approached. I say this because I had no idea he'd been recruited until one day last week during football practice. I had decided to stay after school one afternoon to watch Kansuke to find Li also on the pitch, doing his drills.

Before that, I didn't even know he played the game. It was not until I had brought this discovery up with Tomoyo as a random topic did I find out that Li had a short stint as a member of the team last season—a fact I must've either missed or forgotten because I went to almost every game since Kansuke began playing and I knew or knew of all the players on the team since. According to Tomoyo (who knew this from Eriol), it was this short stint which led Mr. Ogata to consider Li. Seemingly he had made enough of an impression on Mr. Ogata for him to approach Li about standing in as a reserve.

Being offered this opportunity, you'd think anyone would accept, but not Li. From what Natsumi tells me, Li declined at first because he couldn't spare any time for the game; he had his studies to think about—a reason I thought was in fact very Li. So many guys in school would kill to be a part of the football team, but not him; studies were more important.

I had to give it to him; he was one of a kind. It took Mr. Ogata to assure him extra credit for his participation before he finally accepted it seems. So now he was on the football team, but not as a reserve, but somehow managed to move up as a member of it.

This sight of Li; it was a strange one. I was used to seeing him at the school library, up in trees, alone; not in the school's football uniform, playing the school's most popular sport with some of the school's most popular guys. Not only was he playing on the team, but he was actually pretty good at the sport.

He had the ball at the moment and was moving in a rather quick, skillful fashion. He had just received the ball from Kansuke and was in the process of maneuvering it around the defenders. My eyes lay still as he continued to advance. It looks like he was thinking of shooting for goal, despite the distance and position he was shooting from.

And then seconds later it was in.

The crowd cheered and I stood stunned at his strength and aim. Apparently, Li was not only pretty good, but really good. I suppose this display must've been the reason behind his promotion. He just scored the team's first goal.

"Way to go, Li!" both Natsumi and Tomoko cheered.

"Li's impressive," expressed Tomoyo.

"I'll say. That was quite an angle he was shooting at. I can't believe he picked it." Chiharu added.

I watched Li jog back into position. There was no celebration on his part. All he did was acknowledge the few fellow teammates that moved to give him a pat on the back before focusing on the game again.

I can't figure him out. He just scored a great goal; and where normally others would revel in their success, he chooses to be modest about it. He could be on the football team, but he chooses his books. He could be amongst the majority, but he chooses isolation.

"I'm so glad Ashida finally passed the ball to Li," Natsumi commented.

I turned to her, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

"Many times Li was open and Ashida knew he was, but he just wouldn't pass it to him," Natsumi told.

The entire first half I didn't notice a problem between the two. I knew that they had a history with each other, but Kansuke wasn't the type to let personal issues get in the way of his game.

"I'm sure Kansuke would've passed the ball to Li if he could," I said.

Natsumi shook her head. "No. I counted two times where Syaoran was the obvious choice; he was the obvious striker to pass it to, but Ashida wouldn't."

"Mr. Ogata must've had a word with him," Tomoko said.

"You call him Syaoran?" I asked Natsumi, backtracking.

Tomoko answered it for her, giggling. "Only when she's not in his presence… and when she doesn't realise she had called him that."

At that, Natsumi blushed red; then slapped her friend across the arm for teasing her. I had forgotten that Natsumi had a thing for him.

"Natsumi, do you like Li?" I decided to ask her directly.

Shyly she nodded. "I think he's really kind and thoughtful, he's good at almost everything he does and… he's not like anyone I've met before."

Her last words were said as she moved to stare out onto the pitch at the guy she admired so much. I followed her line of gaze; Li had the ball at his feet and he was driving it towards the goal again. I maintained my gaze on him, Natsumi's words ringing in my ears.

© 26 October 2008

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**Comments:** Thank you to all readers and reviewers.  
**thepurplemaiden** and **Anonymous T:** thank you guys for your comments. They are much appreciated. You both are not wrong to say Sakura matured a little too much or that she's stiff. We did drop the ball in a lot of ways with that chapter. We'll blame that on our lack of sleep, work, and all. Hehe. So we decided to look it over again and we did make some corrections. So we hope it'll be a little bit better for the future readers.  
As for Syaoran and hearing his thoughts, we think he's been through enough. We'll leave him to his privacy just like the way he likes it and let Sakura do all the work for him. - smiles -  
**insanity-ward:** Thank you for your support and enthusiasm for the fanfic! We will do our best to write more and we hope it continues to hold your interest!  
**lhaine07:** We're afraid, for the remaining chapters, you will be hearing from Sakura. So both of us will apologise lots for that. We hope to see you here again despite that.  
**flowers:** We don't have plans to drop the story, so it is safe. Hehe. Thank you so much for supporting us for so long and we hope that you will continue to!  
**tinkerbellie**: Sorry for making you wait so long. We hope you enjoyed our latest update!  
**xll KUROI TSUBASA llx:** Thank you for reading and thank you for getting to the end! Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
**Nicool:** Sakura and Syaoran. They do have chemistry... in any world! Hehe. Thanks for the comment.  
**vixiewixie**, **euphoria bebe**, **Adeen:** Thanks so much for leaving a comment. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
**BiskElle:** Thank you very much for coming in here and giving this fanfic a read. We will definitely be continuing to write for this fanfic so we hope that you will be back here reading!! Yes, like we mentioned about Syaoran, in any world he is a great guy! Why can't a certain someone see that! Teehee.  
**whitewave16:** Sakura suffering yes, a little. Thank you for leaving a comment and we hope you enjoyed the chapter.  
**infiniteternity:** Oh... we see. It didn't go down well with you eh? Judging from your previous reviews and generally unhappy reactions to each of the chapters that you did review, we're not certain this latest chapter will go down with you well. Thank you for leaving your comments however.  
**oneandoneis37:** Thank you for coming in and reading. It doesn't matter when you come in, we're just happy that you did. We do understand what you mean by cliche, it is something that does happen in high school a lot, but yeah... hehe. About Sakura's POV, the remaining chapters will be her POV. Fun, fun, fun.


	16. Chapter 16

**Skin-deep  
****©2009 By Julia and Tania****  
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 16  
01 February 2009**

**

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****On the previous chapter:** Sakura has an unexpected visitor in her dream, Li Syaoran. The next day, the day of the school's annual football competition with an out of town school, she ponders what the dream means whilst she deals with yet another troubling matter: Kansuke's constant flirting with other girls right in front of her face.

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_**Location:**__ School  
__**Time frame:**__ Weekday  
__**Point of View:**_ _Sakura_

Come full time, we were still at one-all and a penalty shootout was the means to determine the winning team for this year. The visitors were impeccable at the early stages, ahead by at least one goal, but their two misses at the end saw us victorious. The final outcome: three to two goals.

Tomoyo had already left by this time, leaving at the sound of the bell to continue her oil pastel painting project in art class; Rika: she went back to class also, to Geography class; Chiharu, she left me to go chatting with others on the pitch, telling me she didn't want to see a "gross display of affection that happen way too often" between me and Kansuke; and me: I of course went to find Kansuke.

I found him after weaving through several groups and he was with a few of his teammates and a couple from the other team. Kansuke was talking to the group when I chose to enter: I placed a light hand on his arm, letting him know I had arrived. He turned to me.

"Oh hey, Babe," Kansuke said. "Enjoy the game?" He wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me in to hug him. I did so delightfully, wrapping an arm around his waist, too.

"Yeah; a total blast," I answered.

"Glad to hear." Kansuke turned to the unfamiliar faces that looked at me curiously—as one would with new faces. He introduced me to them. "This is Kinomoto Sakura, the school's party planner and the most beautiful model."

Not quite accurate and I was a little embarrassed with the second description he had of me, nevertheless it put a giddy smile on my face. I greeted them and congratulated them on a good game. The guys thanked me and asked a few questions about the model part about me. I told them briefly what I did and who I worked for before conversation resumed with the rest of the group.

With a game of football having just been played and this group a bunch of football guys, football was the topic of conversation. I had little to nothing to input into their conversation, only a couple of nods and smiles during the times I caught eyes with them. It was not a topic I was knowledgeable about and soon listening to it got uninteresting to me and my attention wondered off to other parts of the pitch.

I spotted Mr. Hisamatsu and Ms. Adams, one of the English teachers, standing amongst the field of students opposite me, busy chatting amongst themselves, once in a while looking up at the scene before them. _Keep chatting_, I thought, wanting this free time to continue for as long as possible.

I moved onto another part of the pitch, to some groups away from them. I found Hisa talking to a guy from the other team. Predictably, she was on a mission to nab herself another hot guy. I do wonder if she ever gets tired of hopping from guy to guy and actually going with one. Or maybe it was out of her control as it looked to be in this situation. This guy, he was tall with striking eyes and unruly dark hair, easily the hottest guy in his team, was uninterested, his eyes elsewhere and looking to move on from her. Hisa didn't relent—or maybe not perceptive enough to, that she continued to flirt, curling those thin, over-glossed lips of hers into a flirtatious smile. A moment more, he made his exit, leaving Trouble to herself for better company. She did not seem to be fazed by that and moved on herself.

She'd found a group behind and found Li. She looked like she wanted to head there. I hoped she didn't. There were many others around who she could play with to satisfy her games. I relaxed when she decided to leave him alone and turned to head elsewhere. As she turned, she found me looking at her. She scowled; I was not scared and I gave her a mocking smile. She didn't like it much as she spun on her heel and walked away from me and my mocking smile.

My attention returned back to Li and his group, remembering the company he had around him a surprise. Sporting a yellow and black cheerleader's uniform, his company was two cheerleaders from the other school. _Where were Natsumi, and her friend, Tomoko?_ I ask. These girls will take him away if they didn't appear, I thought, finding the girls much too pretty for any guy to not be mesmerised by them, not even Li. Indeed, they were pretty: long and flowing sleek hair, flawless complexion, piercing eyes, tall, and slim. These girls were more likely than not the popular bunch of their school and probably had a whole train-full of guys behind them. I observed Li's body language and it told me he was comfortable talking to these girls and found these girls pleasant company as I saw him give a couple of decent smiles to them as they spoke. And the girls returned that too: they gave him cute smiles and undivided attention as he spoke. I was in awe. I was surprised. I wondered. I never knew Li could attract such girls and was able to socialise so well with such girls. Curiosity coursed through me to hear the conversation that I decided to take a trip over there. However, I was stopped when Kansuke called me.

"Hey, we're heading back to the changing rooms, I'll see you later alright," he said. The others had already moved off for the changing rooms as I saw them some distance away now.

"Oh okay." I leaned in for a kiss then asked him, "You're doing something after this?"

"Yeah. I'll call you tonight when we go out, okay?" He took a step, but I still had questions to ask him. I brought him back with a hand.

"Wait, you guys are doing something after this. What are you guys doing? I want to come, too."

"You have class. You can't come, can you?"

"Yeah, I mean after class. What are you doing after?"

"Don't know yet. We haven't settled on what we're doing yet."

"Call me then when you know. I want to join in on the fun."

"Alright, call you later then." He kissed me one more time then he was off.

I returned my attention back to where Li and the cheerleaders were, but the spot was now empty. The girls were nowhere to be seen, but I spotted Li. He was heading in the direction of the changing rooms with now Natsumi and Tomoko approaching him. _Where were they when they needed to be there most?_ I ask.

There was a call for me behind me. I already knew who it was without turning around. I needn't face this person to know who had called me. It was unmistakable with the combination of the proud tone and the familiar scent of vanilla in the air, and something else I couldn't define which made my nose wrinkle with dislike: it was Hisa. She had a smug smile on her when I found her.

"Heading back to class, is it?" she said.

I didn't know why I needed to give her the time of day and answer her, but I did. "No."

"You _are_ though after this?"

"Whenever 'after this' is—yeah. What's your point?"

"Oh, so you aren't going with us to play pool?"

My heart stopped upon hearing the plans. Before I continued down the path of hurt and confusion, I asked,

"You don't mean you with Kansuke and the guys going to play pool?" She did not provide me a verbal answer to affirm it. I only gathered she was when she continued to wait for my answer to the question she had asked. I answered as best I could without releasing the hurt I felt inside with saying—

"No. I'm going after class." She was smiling and I couldn't help think she could see through my mask. Quickly, I said, "You know that you can't get off class without permission. Only the football team is allowed to."

Hisa squared her eyes on me and cocked a brow. "You're not going to tell on me, are you?"

I cared less that she was skipping class. Like I said, I'd only wanted to change topics to move it off from me. As that was, Hisa was a regular bunker, and I told—

"You can, but I'm just telling you, you won't be able to explain to the secretary why you skipped when she asks you. Your attendance record is bad enough and you've probably overused what excuses you've given her."

She released her glare and smiled again. "Well, it's for me to worry about, not you Sakura, huh?"

There was then a long moment of inactivity where we both stood, still in each other's company when clearly this was over. I wanted to be left to my troubled thoughts immediately and I decided to break it.

"Is that all? Did you come specifically to tell me that you were skipping?"

"Well, I'll be having some fun then. Later, Sakura Babe!" I glowered at her use of Kansuke's nickname for me. Only he could call me that. An uneasy feeling then inhabited me as I watched her leave; I couldn't help think Kansuke didn't want me there.

I talked to Tomoyo about it during art class, wanting some insight that maybe I couldn't see. "Hisa could be trying to rile you up", she offered, and I told her I didn't feel she was this time, giving her my recollection of her tone and body language. I wanted Tomoyo to again tell me otherwise, but she didn't, only advising me to listen to whatever my gut felt. I gathered she agreed with me and I became worried and agitated—that I ended up counting the minutes left in class than being on task and painting; for it wasn't only my troubled thoughts that made me so, but it was also that I received no messages from Kansuke at all about the plans and none to tell me he'll be waiting for me after class. The first thing I did when school was over was call him, but I didn't get through to him. I made my way to the car parking lot, hoping he'd be there waiting for me, but his car: no where to be seen. I waited some ten minutes outside the school gates for him. No car, no Kansuke. Annoyance controlled me by the time I started walking home and I tried many more times to reach him on the phone. It was not until the fifth try that finally there was an answer.

"_Hello,"_ he said. There was a bounce in his tone which raised my annoyance many degrees more. I heard in the background the sound of pool balls knocking into each other. The location to which Hisa had revealed to me was indeed truth.

"Did you forget about me?" I asked.

"_Babe, oh! Sorry. The call slipped my mind, eh?"_

_I highly doubt it did_, I wanted to say, but instead I asked, "Well, are you coming to give me a ride there?"

"_Actually, Sakura Babe, it's a long way back to school, so you do understand, right?"_

"Where are you?"

"We're in town." He paused; then explained, "You know how it is after school. It'll take me ages to get to you and back. So, no point, eh, Babe?"

"No point?" I was truly reeling in annoyance now, but my mind told me to keep myself calm.

"_Mm, you understand, right? It's kinda difficult."_

No, it was extremely hard to understand when coming to get me was an easy thing to do. All he needed to do was leave for a bit, get in his car, and come for me.

"Diffficult?" I said. I could feel it now—the desire to explode.

"_Do you want me to come get you, then? I'll come get you,"_ His tone was monotone and unwilling, displeasure—displeasure with me.

And it was that displeasure that had me stopping and thinking: the bad day that would result from me forcing him to come get me and him lost in irritation with me saw me rethinking my wants. I chose to surrender.

"No, it's fine," I said.

His tone brightened upon my answer. _"Yeah, it's fine?"_

"Yeah. Go have fun."

"_Thanks, Babe. You're cool. We'll be doing something later on, so I'll holler you when we decide what we're doing."_ I made a noise that agreed. He'd mistaken the sadness for uncertainty I had of his words and said, _"I will this time,"_ he reassured. _"Okay, great. Call you later. Bye, Babe."_

"Bye."

The phone then clicked off.

I stared at the phone until the red phone symbol disappeared on my display screen, then returned my phone to my bag and continued walking towards nowhere but home.

The air was chilly, and my mood gloomy, I decided to spend some time at a cozy café for a warm drink. I ordered a mocchachino as well as a slice of mud cake and enjoyed it at a seat behind the counter—a cozy hiding from the rest of the café.

The atmosphere was pleasantly quiet with only a couple of small tables filled with groups of people like me—high-schoolers who had just gotten off school for the day. They talked quietly amongst themselves. It had been very much relaxing reading the magazine I'd picked up on the table whilst enjoying the food until the group who sat against the wall opposite me kept looking my way for a reason that was unknown to me and it was bothersome. It took an icy glare from me for them to leave me alone. The peace was back, but it didn't last long when not too long after, a group of girls loudly announced their entrance into the café, their boisterous laughter spilling over the quiet atmosphere. I realised I knew them when they chose to seat themselves at the table in front of me. They were Hisa's posse.

I tried to hide, returning my eyes to the magazine I had been reading, hoping none of them would see me, but, Reika, Hisa's number one posse, sharp eyes she had, saw me. She came walking over.

"Hey, Sakura. It's surprising to see you here?" she said.

"Reika, you're here too," I replied.

Indeed I was nice to one of Hisa's people. Though I didn't like her a whole lot, she exerts an artificial niceness that requires me to make nice as well.

"Yeah, we felt like something before we headed over to Ashida's. Actually, why are you here? I thought you'd be over there with him."

The information pierced through me and now I was feeling utterly betrayed. Oh they must be laughing at me now, how I, the girlfriend, was ditched by her boyfriend; how Hisa must be laughing at me now. The shame it all was. I wanted to cry, but I held it all in as I would not allow these sorts of people know the true thoughts and feelings that were going through me. Answering as neutrally as I could, I said—"I had some things to do."

"Really? And you're sitting here?" I didn't respond. She continued. "You're missing some show, Sakura. Hisa tells me she's having a blast at Ashida's awesome party."

Hisa and Kansuke in the same sentence together still struck a cord and she probably knew it when she mentioned what they were up to, but I attempted to hold myself together: I returned to my magazine, flipped through it, and hoped to sound indifferent as I told her, "That's great. I'm glad the party's a blast. You have a great time when you get there, okay?" I believe I did well as Reika had a look of uncertainty. I looked up and cocked a brow, waiting for her next words.

"Alright, well, I better get back to my friends. I'll see you there then, Sakura. Enjoy your drink, eh?" she said, finally wrapping it up.

"Yeah, see ya. You enjoy yours, too."

Reika returned to her table. Her two friends looked my way when she took her seat. I acknowledged with a look as well. I had come into this café for a bit of peace and quiet and to relax, but this was no longer relaxing—the café was too crowded and stuffy for me now. I withstood another couple minutes before I grabbed my gear and made my way out of this place.

Reika and the others said goodbye to me and did a quick one back, for I didn't know how much longer I could hold onto a neutral face because all I wanted to do was explode and let all the frustration, anger, and disappointment out. I was almost to the door when some person excused himself. I turned to the voice that had stopped me—not without irritation of course—and found it was one of the guys from the group I'd mention have stared my way too often. I waited—impatiently—for him to speak his reason for stopping me. He extended a magazine towards me and asked,

"By any chance you are the girl in this picture?"

Intrigue and interest now became of me. I tilted my head to the magazine. I looked upon a picture of my first photo shoot.

"Yes, she is me," I replied. I looked out for a moment and found Reika and her friends looking. The other people in the small and quiet café were looking, too; and so were the two waitresses—all of them were as intrigued as I was.

The next moment was then the strangest thing I'd ever experienced as he asked for my autograph. I was no famous model or even famous. I was a part-timer who, as recently, was doing more low profile assignments than high profile ones, so to be asked for an autograph, I was too shy to, for it would mean I believe I was some well-known celebrity, which I was not at all. As that was, I took his pen and signed the picture out of politeness.

My pen hovered above the paper, unsure how my autograph was supposed to look like; this was my first autograph after all. In the end, I just wrote my name. I would just have to perfect it later for the next time I'm asked for an autograph—that is, if I ever have this opportunity again.

"Sakura is a lovely name," the guy said when I returned the magazine and his pen to him. He then proceeded to ask for my phone number. Of course I politely told him I had a boyfriend. "That's a shame," he said. I nodded before I finally made my way out.

It was a little light in what has been and is still so depressing and disappointing. It satisfies me that Hisa's friends were there to see it. They could relay this to Kansuke.

The sun shone into my eyes as I continued down the footpath for home. I lowered the sunglasses I placed above my head and covered my eyes with them. I was a couple of metres from _Kobayashi's Chinese Grocery Store_ when I spotted Li exiting it. He hadn't spotted me and walked incredibly fast for me to catch up. I quickly called out to him. "Li!" He stopped and turned. He seemed to be having trouble recognising me from this distance. My sunglasses probably didn't help him much to recognise me either. "Kinomoto," I told him. He finally recognised me and met me up.

"Hey," I said when we met up.

"Hey."

I didn't notice his black mechanics suit before, but I noticed it now. It seems I was a sucker for guys in black mechanic's suits because my eyes were trained onto the body that wore one now. Lucky for me, Li couldn't see where my eyes were with my glasses covering me. I returned my eyes back up and asked him,

"Doing some grocery shopping before going to work?" He had two bags, one in each hand. He affirmed it. "What did you buy?"

He lifted it closer to me and allowed me to peer through the tops of the bags then said, "Chinese vegetables, noodles, and sauce."

"Looks like a feast."

"Uh."

He didn't seem to be much in the mood for small talk with replies so brief. The next moment we stood in silence.

"Anyway, you look like you need to be somewhere, so I'll let you go," I said. I took a step to leave, but he halted me and asked,

"Are you heading home?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I've got my car today. Do you want a lift?"

"You have work—I mean, don't you? They're your work clothes on, right?"

"It'll be fine." With the obvious comforts of a car ride, I happily accepted the offer.

It was quiet in the car. I could hear the brushing of my clothes as I uncrossed, switched and crossed my legs again to stop my right from falling asleep. No music or radio came out of Li's hi-tech music system and I sat uncomfortable in the quietness. I began a conversation with Li.

"Great game this afternoon by the way."

"Thank you."

"You were quite popular today." He just nodded. I continued. "The two girls you were with were quite cool."

He furrowed his brows. "Who?"

"The cheerleaders from the other team." He remembered. I continued again. "I was standing with a group behind you. They seem very interested to talk to you." Again, he just nodded. I had no where particular to go with this topic—an observation more than anything that I thought could fill the present silence. His disinterest in the topic, I moved onto another. I itched to talk about Kansuke to someone and thought to begin, but reconsidered when I remembered who I was with and what had happened only a month ago between him and me. I chose to mention about what happened at the café instead.

"A really strange thing happened today," I began.

He turned to me to say, "What was it?" before he returned to watch the road.

"Well, someone asked for my autograph today." Li turned to me again and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Yeah, I was in the café and a guy suddenly asked me if I was the girl on the magazine spread he showed me and asked me to sign on it. So great, huh?"

He smiled. "Congratulations on your first fan."

"Mm. Reika, the girl who hangs around Hisa and is in our History class," Li nodded, indicating he knew who I was talking about. "She and her friends were there, too. They were so high and mighty, always trying to say things that got to me, but she was like whispering to her friends when she saw this, not believing what was happening in front of her. It felt _so_ good to see her like that!"

"Mm… That's good."

_He's not one of my gal pals; too forthcoming and too enthusiastic,_ I thought as I mentally slapped myself for sounding so immature.

A vibrating noise broke my thoughts and I looked to Li out of reflex. "I think it's your phone that's vibrating," he said. I went to my bag and retrieved my phone. It was Kansuke.

"_Hey, Sakura. I'll see you at your place at 7:30, okay?"_

_Seven-thirty: _e_nough time to finish having fun at your damn party which you left me out of!_ I thought. I pressed hard on the 'end' button and threw my phone back into my bag.

"You alright?" Li asked.

"It's fine," I said, trying the best I could to keep my tone from sounding as crummy as I felt, but Li's furrowed brow became more creased, telling me I had not done a good job hiding it. "No, it's nothing. I'm sorry. I'm just annoyed at someone," I explained.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.

I suspect he probably already knew who I was annoyed with. I exhaled then replied, "It's Kansuke."

"What did he do?"

There was no judgement in his tone and I was appreciative of that. I replied,

"Right now, he's having a party and I didn't know about it. I only knew because Reika not-so-subtly slipped it into our conversation." He seemed uncertain of what to say as he looked around for words. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm just… yeah: annoyed," I said. I gave a smile to reassure him again he needn't worry. He nodded and returned to driving.

We came across an intersection. We stopped as Li surveyed the road for traffic. We moved off when it was safe to cross. A moment later, a ring of a cell phone sounded. This time it was Li's cell phone going off. He reached for the earpiece to his hands-free cell phone device that was clipped to the dashboard and answered the call.

It seems to be someone from home as he spoke to this person in his native tongue. I obviously understood none of what he was saying. There were short and long chattering on this end and he'd spoken in a serious tone with a serious expression. Less than a minute, the call ended and Li returned the device to the dashboard where his phone hung.

Naturally, I was curious to who that was on the other end. I placed my glasses on my head then asked Li—

"Was that someone calling from home?"

"Yeah."

"Your family calling to check up on you?"

"No. That was Jinwei."

Somehow, Jinwei didn't come to mind and it surprised me to hear her name.

"That was Jinwei?" A rhetorical question, nonetheless, he nodded. "How is Jinwei? Is she doing well?"

"She's fine."

"That's good."

Silence entered. My thoughts remained on Jinwei for some moments. They highlighted how Jinwei always popped up in all of the conversations we had. Then curiosity beckoned me to ask this next question:

"Jinwei, is she like… your girlfriend?" Li turned to me with a puzzled look on his face, looking for a reason why I'd asked that. "She seems to call you a lot and the last time she came to Japan I remember that she stayed at your apartment and in your room," I explained.

The topic seemed to be an uncomfortable one for him as he shifted in his seat.

"It's complicated," he finally replied.

"Complicated?"

"Uh."

I still wondered why that was; his brief answer didn't enlighten me any further his relationship with Jinwei. I thought in my head; many questions circled around.

"Jinwei is the daughter of a business associate of my mother's," Li suddenly began. My attention turned to him. I listened patiently. "That time Jinwei came in summer break was my first meeting with her. My mother and Jinwei's father got her to come visit me for us to get to know each other. Mother insists that Jinwei and I should be together. I don't agree, but she says she sees her perfect for me and I must go out on dates and get to know her."

There was now a lengthy silence as that information processed in my head. I didn't know how it felt to have someone choose for you the person you went out with or be forced to go out with someone, but I myself couldn't imagine not being able to choose. However, Jinwei seemed like a nice girl—she was pretty, kind, and (I guessed) intelligent as well, so it made me wonder why Li didn't like her—presumably that was how he felt about her. I decided to ask him the question: "So you don't like Jinwei?" and added, "She seems like a nice girl."

"It's not that I don't like her," he said, turning to me before turning back to watch the road then continued: "I just prefer that I choose who I go out with than a girl being forced onto me." I nodded, the answer making good sense to me. I then wondered what his mother did and asked.

"My mother is the CEO of her company," he answered.

I reacted to the information like anyone who was raised in an average family: amazed. It now explains how Li was able to live in a modern apartment that average students could not afford to live with flatmates let alone renting the place by themselves.

"Wow, you're like Tomoyo then," I said.

"I'm like 'Tomoyo'?" he asked, curious to the comparison I'd made.

When I had said this, I had thought he probably lived like Tomoyo: a massive house with fancy furniture and maids to do all their chores and housework, and had access to things average people didn't. Not that I didn't appreciate how much my dad has provided me, but I have wondered how it was like to be so privileged, to be like Tomoyo—and apparently Li, too. I didn't say this though. Instead, I told him that he and Tomoyo were alike because both his and Tomoyo's mum ran their own companies. He nodded; understanding.

"What does your company do?" I then asked.

"It's an advertising agency."

"Advertising? Wow, cool. You ever worked at your mum's company?"

"On several occasions before I came to study here."

I nodded. "You know, you could be the boss of your family's advertising company one day."

He pulled a disapproving face. "I don't want that."

"Why not?" I asked curiously. Not only did it sound cool, but I had searched the papers and went online looking for jobs, having worried about what I'd do after school before the whole modelling thing came up, and CEO of a company was definitely not one advertised often and I'd imagine only smart and a few select people knew and could obtain this job.

"The office environment doesn't appeal to me," he answered.

"It doesn't? It's comfortable, air-conditioning and all that, it's not too bad."

He shook his head. "On the first day I worked there, I lasted about an hour before I got bored and wanted to go home. The subsequent occasions, I just wanted to not turn up at all."

"I wouldn't mind working there."

He smirked. "I might tell my mother that a girl called Kinomoto Sakura wants to work at her company then."

"I don't oppose. Go ahead," I challenged. He just laughed, amused.

"What do you want to do then if you don't want to be CEO of your family's company?"

"I'm interested in mechanics, so something in that line of work."

"That's monotonous work, isn't it?"

He smiled to the valid point I had made; then explained, "But it's hands on and I like it." I returned a face for his witty response. He chuckled in return.

Li checked for traffic as we approached another intersection before crossing.

"Will you be going out later?" he suddenly asked.

"I should be heading out with the guys to somewhere in the evening. I don't know." _Maybe even spending this evening at home, by the way the day had panned out so far_, I thought to myself. I wondered why he asked; maybe he wanted to ask if I wanted to do something with him. I didn't ask why though and let quietness re-enter until he revealed to me the reason for asking. He said,

"If you do and find yourself without a ride home, I can drive you home. Call me whenever you need me. It doesn't matter what time."

_He's always so nice,_ I thought. I nodded and smiled.

We soon came up my street and turned into it. When we approached my house, my eyes did a double take. Was I seeing right?—a black car parked at the curbside that looked a lot like Kansuke's? It took coming up behind it that I realised it was his car, finding the snowball reindeer car ornament that I gave him as a gift dangling at the back window. He was waiting for me outside my house.

"What is he doing here?" I said, speaking my thoughts aloud.

"Who?"

"Kansuke," I replied; then got out of the car and headed over to him. Kansuke stood by his car.

"Why are you here? I thought you said seven-thirty?" I asked him, feeling myself boiling up again.

"I wanted to spend some time with you before we headed out," he explained.

"What happened to your party, huh? You got bore—?"

Kansuke stopped listening to me as his eyes left me and looked up at Li who had come to stand behind me. The gaze turned rigid. "What's he doing with you?" He didn't seem interested finding the answer to that question as he moved onto a couple more, directed to Li. "Hey, what's up with this? You movin' in on my girlfriend, Loner?"

I motioned to break the confrontation that was looming, but Li spoke ahead of me, saying—

"I gave her a ride home. Where were you?"

That set Kansuke off, eyes became dangerous as he stepped forward, coming chest to chest with Li. "Look: now that we're off the pitch, I'm not going to be nice," he said. "You start moving away from my girlfriend or you will get it."

I thought Li was smart enough to do as Kansuke told, especially when he looked like he could clobber him, but Li stayed. I feared to see black eyes and bloody lips in the next moment as the two started shoving at each other's chests. I got in between them and bellowed,

"_STOP_!"

The jostling stopped, but both guys remained glaring at each other. I was now annoyed; that yell had irritated my throat; now it hurt. After a glare from me for them both to chill, they released each other and moved apart. They straightened their clothes. Kansuke was my boyfriend, and it was he, who looked more agitated that I went to him and said,

"Li just offered me a ride. It's nothing extreme, right?"

"I could have offered you that ride."

I raised a brow at the funniness of those words. "Do you not remember that I did ask? And you told me it was too much of a hassle to come get me." I hated how I sounded right now. I had never spoken angry words to him, but I was angry. Kansuke could say nothing and looked defenseless. I pushed on, saying, "You had a little party at your place. It's really interesting that I didn't know about it when I'm your girlfriend. I had to hear it from someone else." Again he had no words to explain himself.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes; he didn't even attempt to apologise for what he did. I had no desire to continue to wait. "Go continue having fun with your friends. Don't bother about tonight. I'm not coming," I said then walked off.

I could hear Kansuke's speedy footsteps coming to me. His hand grabbed my arm and he turned me around. "Sakura, you're annoyed at me right now, I get it, but don't be annoyed. I'm sorry, Babe. I didn't think."

I shook my head once, his words inaccurate to me. "You don't forget to include your girlfriend. You choose to forget to include your girlfriend."

"Sakura, come on. I really am sorry. It's a simple mistake."

I shook my head again at the tone he'd used: frustration—as if I was frustrating. I should be the one feeling frustrated. To hear him imply I was petty and being a drama-queen, I was fuming. I released my arm from his hold and resumed again.

"Hey, hold up, Sakura. _Oh, come on!_" I paced even faster at that.

He caught up to me again. This time, he spun me around faster; and in that quick motion I became face to face with him with no room to escape as his arms wrapped tightly around my body. I looked up at him as did he me.

His eyes softened. "Let me make it up to you." I didn't yield. He continued: "You know how good I am at making it up to you." His eyes softened further as he looked deep into mine. His glimmering blue eyes were bringing my defenses down; bit by bit; until finally I lost.

"Fine," I said. "I expect you to make it up to me big time. I won't accept anything less. It's not nice to have people snicker at you because your boyfriend didn't tell you he's having a party without her."

"I know. I'm already planning how to make it up to you in my head right now. That's why I'm here, Sakura: to make it up to you. I realise I'm wrong."

He then kissed me; slowly, gently, and then with more fervour: the hand that positioned at my back slid across to come to stop below my breastbone. The other hand, still at my back, brought me to press into his body before I felt the hand at my breastbone start to caress me there with a thumb.

"I'll leave you to it."

Li! I pulled away from the kiss immediately upon hearing him. I'd made a step towards him to speak to him, but he was already in his car. A rev of his car, loud in my ears than it probably was in reality, before he was out of sight. I bet myself up for being so inconsiderate as to forget he was still standing there watching it all.

"Don't worry about that prick," Kansuke said. I couldn't help finding that rude. After all, Li did do me a favour. I didn't call him up on it, though, not wanting to start up another fight. "Let's get inside," he suggested.

"Yeah…"

I began making my way in, but still looked at the spot where Li's car had parked a moment ago. I wanted to call him or message him to apologise. Kansuke tugging at my arm didn't help me decide that much faster and in the end, I left it. _Dammit,_ I thought.

* * *

Even though the time to meet was seven-thirty, Kansuke called his friends to say we'd be arriving at quarter to nine for he wanted to make it up to me. He let me order him around, fetched me ice cream from the freezer when I wanted it, and switched the channels on TV when I got bored of a program. Indeed he made it up to me with what seem like nothing, but I was never a person to care for grand gestures or elaborate gifts. I was satisfied. As that was, I still had one question on my mind that still bugged me and it was why he didn't ask me to attend his party. I asked if it was because he didn't find me fun. The answer was it didn't occur to him. I didn't throw a fit at him because he followed with admitting he was wrong to forget me and he said that, "In amidst of fun, I tend to forget. I'm a sucker for fun. I like my Sakura Babe. Believe that," he said.

By the time we made it to meet up with the gang at a popular hangout place in the area, I was somewhat drained. Come ten-thirty, I was beat and wanted to go home. Kansuke, on the other hand, was not. Up until this point, he had been considerate after our fight, paying attention to my comfort and never leaving my side. Indeed, he could be described as gentlemanly—up until this point. After I told him I wanted to head home, he was not: he told me to hang on for another couple hours and if I could, he would be ready to leave then. What he said was not the most infuriating thing that entered my ears—no. It was the accompanying annoyance in his tone at the end. I had only informed him I wanted to go home; I hadn't asked to be taken home. So with that, I grabbed my bag and jacket and headed out. Kansuke, for whatever reason, did a u-turn and decided to ask one of his friends, who was also leaving at the time, to take me home as I walked out, but I declined the offer. Kansuke wasn't going to get a brownie point for trying to be considerate after being so inconsiderate. _So much for making up to me_, I thought, before I stormed out of the hang-out place in a huff.

After some distance into my journey, anger dissipating and calm and sense returning back into me, I realised that I may have been better off sucking up my pride and taking that ride home Kansuke got for me. Scary noises and creepy shadows played tricks on my mind and I became edgy. When I crossed paths with a guy in a leather jacket and jangling boots with piercings all over his face, I stopped being brave and decided to call someone to take me home. I called Li, remembering his offer this afternoon. _Anywhere and no matter what time right?_ I thought to myself as the ringing tones sounded. It took some time for him to pick up. I remembered what happened this afternoon and I thought to hang up, but the rings stopped after a few and he answered—rather a female's voice answered, to my surprise.

"_Hello,"_ she said.

"Um, is this Li Syaoran's phone?" I asked, unsure. I was sure this was his number since I've called him on this number before.

"_Yes, this is Li Syaoran's phone. He's busy at the moment."_ She paused for a second then asked,_ "Is that you, Sakura?"_

"Yeah…" I tried to figure out who it was that was on the other end, but I couldn't connect the voice to a person. She revealed herself to me after a moment or two.

"_It's me, Sakura—Natsumi."_

"Oh—Natsumi! Hi! Um, what are you doing on Li's phone?" I shook my head, realising she'd answered why she was: he was busy. I corrected myself. "I mean, where's Li?"

"_He's driving, so he asked me to answer the phone for him,"_ she explained.

Natsumi and Li on a date went through my mind. I asked, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"_We're on our way to have some coffee. Did you need something, Sakura?"_

"I'm kinda needing a lift—but it's fine. You're busy, so I'll just hang up now and leave you guys to it." I was about to hang up when she said—

"_No, wait, hold on."_ Her voice became a little distant as she seemed to have turned to Li. I heard her say to him, _"It's Sakura. She wants a ride home, is that okay?"_ I didn't hear Li's response, but I assumed he was alright with it when Natsumi asked me where I was.

"I'm standing in the block of shops where _Kobayashi's Grocery Store_ is," I told her.

"_Okay, we'll be there soon,"_ she informed. Li's voice came through, inaudible however. Natsumi relayed to me what he had said: _"Li said he'll be there in five minutes."_

"Okay. No hurry. Thank you for this and I'm so sorry to be such a nuisance, Natsumi."

"_Don't worry. We'll be there soon. See ya."_ I acknowledged and thanked her once again before the call ended.

It was some fifteen minutes when Li's car finally pulled up in front of me. When I entered into the car, I was surprised to find both Li and Natsumi in such formal wear: Li was in a well-pressed navy-blue shirt and dress pants; and Natsumi: she was in a cute dress with hair curled at the bottom and gorgeous make-up. I had interrupted something.

I placed my bag and jacket beside me then buckled myself in. I then said, "Thank you for coming to pick me up. I'm sorry for interrupting your night. You guys look like you're doing something really fancy." I had hoped Li would respond to this, for the fact that I wanted to know if he was mad at me for this afternoon, but he didn't; only put his car into gear to move off again as he left it to Natsumi to reply to me.

"It's no problem," she said. "Did you have a great night, tonight, Sakura?"

"Yeah, it was good… It was fun." She furrowed her brow upon the lack of conviction I had in those words. I didn't elaborate and moved off onto Natsumi's appearance. "You look really pretty tonight, Natsumi."

"Thanks," she replied.

Li didn't look too bad himself, but I kept that to myself.

I heard a _plop_ as Natsumi turned herself back to the front. She went below to pick something up and began wiping what revealed to be Li's cell phone on the material of her dress. "I'm so sorry, Li. I dropped your phone on the floor."

"Don't worry about it," he said. Natsumi didn't stop wiping at it. My eyes widened when I saw Li placing his hand on top of Natsumi's. He led her attention off of his phone with his eyes squarely looking at her and said, "Natsumi: it's okay. You can stop wiping it."

She must have turned a whole shade of red with that. She did stop—after some moments caught in his gaze; nodded; then slipped his phone back into his suit jacket which she had placed across her lap.

If you think I had not noticed Li calling Natsumi by her first name whilst I was lost in that spectacle, you are mistaken. I now wondered for some moments what had happened for the change.

The ride was quiet—at least it was for me. I'd passed the time looking out the window as Li and Natsumi continued a conversation between themselves at the front. I had not paid much attention to most of what they said, but when Natsumi mentioned their evening, curiosity streamed through me and I tuned in.

"We should go mini-golfing again," Natsumi said.

"You didn't seem so enthusiastic about it at the start."

"No, I was!" she told him, her voice loud; as loud as the lie she had just expressed as she then admitted, "I was just annoyed… The ball doesn't listen to me. I bet the ball hated me, that mean ball. It likes you a lot, though." Li chuckled, a very amused chuckle that I found curious. It was particularly hearty—a quality in his chuckles that I rarely heard. Natsumi chuckled along with him, before she slowly became quiet and still, her eyes fixated on him again. Li hadn't noticed. Quietness ensued.

"Where's this mini-golfing place? I might give it a go," I asked after a moment, jolting Natsumi out of her reverie. She quickly recomposed herself then turned and answered me:

"Oh, it's in town. I don't know if you've been to the bowling alley in town, but it's near there."

"You'll have to give me the details, so I can go."

"No problem. I'll text the information to you."

I didn't expect Natsumi to actually send me a text then and there, but my phone sounded and I found her text there. I opened it to expect the address, but I found information about her date with Li. She wrote,

"_Hey Sakura, I'll give you the address later. I'm so happy I have to share. Mini-golf is really good for dates! Li…"_

I opened the next part of the message in another text.

"…_he had his body around me when he taught me how to mini-golf. Oh it was so cool!"_

What she had said was cool, but I couldn't feel happy and excited for her as her message sounded. I felt the opposite. Nevertheless, I sent her a message back. With false excitement, I wrote back—

"_I'm so happy for you! You must tell me all about it later on the phone. I'll be happy to listen to the goss!"_

I sent it through. Her phone sounded and she took a moment to read it before she turned back in her seat and mouthed the words "I will" before her lips spread into a huge smile. I just smiled back. She returned back to the front.

I didn't know if I want to hear it at all. A part of me was happy for Natsumi, and then another not. I didn't know why I felt that way. Whatever it was, I wasn't going to dwell on it. Today I've had enough thinking, enough emotions going through my body. I switched everything off and mindlessly took comfort in the quiet darkness outside my window for the rest of the way home.

I thanked both Li and Natsumi when they dropped me off at my house. I had made my way up to my gate when Li called out to me. I waited for him to reach me.

"You forgot your jacket," he said and handed me my white denim jacket. I took it in my hand.

"Thanks." I fiddled with the collar of the jacket for a bit before I asked, "Are you and Natsumi going out again after this?"

"Yeah."

"Not a whole lot of places are opened at this time." It was about eleven.

"There's a café near my place that opens till midnight."

"Oh, that's good."

Li nodded. He then turned behind, towards the car; I followed his gaze to meet up with Natsumi who gave me a small smile. Li returned back to me as I did to him.

"I better get going," he said.

"Mm. Thanks again for taking me home." I paused, thinking about this afternoon. "And thank you for putting up with me this afternoon. I'm sorry you had to be there to see all that."

"No problem." He looked towards his car again then returned back to me. "Well, have a good night, Kinomoto. Sleep well."

"You have a good night, too. See ya," I said.

"See ya."

He then left down the path and back to his car. I watch him for a bit before I unlocked the gate and moved through it. I closed it back up. As Li's car moved off down the street, I went to reach for my cell phone in my bag. I typed up a message: _"Thanks again for tonight, Li. I really do appreciate you coming to get me tonight and this afternoon."_ I then sent it before the sound of his car disappeared off into the distance. I made a mental note to properly make it up to him later.

© 01 February 2009

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**Comments to all readers:** We are so sorry it took us so long to post up this latest chapter. It's been over a year since we last updated we know, so we hope that some of you have returned to read despite that. If any of you are still reading, thank you so much for coming back!  
**thepurplemaiden:** Hehe. Yes, a cheap way of dealing with a situation Sakura's not willing to in her waking moment.  
**Ihaine07**, **xll KUROI TSUBASA llx**, **Siona Acitiu**, **whitewave16**, **Tinabedina**, **StoryCurrentlyUntitled:** Thank you all for reading and we hope you all return to read our latest offering.  
**BiskElle:** Thank you so much for your wonderful, kind comments. They made our day when we read them and they make our day now as we reread them! We're mostly happy to hear that you think we have managed to not overdo cliché as we know that this story is set in quite a cliché setting and we are always conscious of it possibly turning too cliché. We hope you return to read this latest chapter and enjoyed it. Thanks again!  
**infiniteternity:** We thought we oughta put some romance in since the story lacks so much. Hehe. Truth is we thought it was a good—albeit typical—way to deal with the subconscious. We're so sorry for the late update, and we hope you like this latest chapter. There is a little bit of drama, but we hope not too much of the bad stuff. Thanks a load!  
**insanity-ward:** Hi! Thank you so much for your comments. It's been a while, but we hope you return to read our latest one. Natsumi features a little more in this chapter. We're not sure if you had predicted that she would from the previous chapter, but here she is. Time will tell how Sakura will react to Natsumi and Syaoran.  
**AnonymousT:** Thanks so much for your comments too. We're so sorry it took us over a year to update. You probably thought we gave up on this again, but we haven't. We hope that this next chapter is to your liking if not to your expectations. There's not too much Sakura and Syaoran fluff, but we found it necessary to develop other things further first in order to progress the story. We hope you return!  
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**oneandoneis37:** Hehe, it's actually the opposite for us; we find it hard to write romance. It involves too many emotions and we find ourselves thinking harder with those bits. We didn't want it too sugary or too cheesy. This next chapter, hmm… it's probably not what you expected? Still, we hope you enjoyed reading it. What inspired us to write this? We wanted to try and write a "popular/geek/loner story", set in high school (it was kind of a common theme back in… 2003—which is when this story first began), which still contains a cliché element, but not so much so. The ideas come from everywhere really: life and imagination, like all stories we guess.  
**Irie Kotoko:** Thank you very much for reading our story. We do apologise for taking so long. Life. *sigh*. We're so glad you like how we wrote Syaoran. Us guys are very happy to hear that! Anyway, we hope you come back and read.


	17. Chapter 17

**Skin-deep  
****©2010 By Julia and Tania****  
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 17  
21 February 2010

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**

**On the previous chapter: **The football team was victorious against the visiting team. Sakura had a lot of high expectations for the afternoon and evening ahead, but things don't go as she planned as she is left out of Kansuke's fun. There is a fight and then make-up between them before at the end of the night, Kansuke ends up disappointing her and seeing her needing to take a ride from Syaoran to get home.

**

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**

_**Location:**__ Sakura's room  
**Time frame:**__ Night  
**Point of View:**_ _Sakura_

It was a sleepless night for me even though I was exhausted and had rushed off to bed after Li took me home. I had stared up at the ceiling above my bed for so long, wondering when—if—Kansuke would call me to ask if I got home alright and to wish me a goodnight. I'd waited and waited until I fell asleep some time around two in the morning before waking back up again at four to find nothing when I checked my phone again. _Why does he not care to pick up that phone and check up on me, say goodnight to me?_ I wasn't asking for much, except for my boyfriend to act like my boyfriend. I couldn't truly get back to sleep after that point, too upset to, and lay in bed thinking about my crumbling relationship with Kansuke. Around six o'clock, I decided to get up.

I decided I was going to make a batch of my specialty pinwheel cookies—for Li. I hadn't made these cookies for a while, only making them on special occasions. I had to make it twice, the first batch burnt because I had neglected them when I went upstairs to prepare my hair and make-up. Luckily, even though these cookies took a little longer to make than normal cookies because they required two different doughs (one chocolate and one vanilla), I was able to restart and still have them finished on time. I had them boxed and ready to be delivered to Li at school by seven-thirty.

Come eight o'clock I arrived at school. It was very different being at school so early. There was no pushing and shoving, no balls flying, no loud clanging of bodies being slammed into doors, no drama, no chaos—it was just serene. _"Maybe I should make coming early a habit,"_ I thought. Of course, it was only a thought; I could never seriously trade in my sleep and warm bed for a quiet hallway. I liked my sleep way too much.

I stopped at my locker to strip off a layer of clothing before checking myself out in the mirror I had stuck on the back of the locker door. I grumbled to myself: my hair was a train wreck: it was flat and frizzed at the same time, and in some places clumpy; and under my eyes were mascara smudges—oh, how I hate winter. Immediately, I rummaged through my bag for my wipes to clean up the smudge before flipping my head upside down to try livening up my hair again. I then returned upright.

"Whoa, there."

My heart sped up to the person who'd told me I had flipped my hair into. I inhaled a deep breath before releasing it slowly and turned to face the person I had woken up early for.

"G-g-good morning," I greeted Li.

"Good morning," Li returned.

Heat crept up to my face as I imagined how I must've appeared to him: with my head upside down, butt waving side to side, ruffling my hair like nobody's business—how embarrassing! And then to slap him in the face on my way up, this was not how I wanted this to go.

"Umm… Sorry. I didn't know you were behind me."

"You're early this morning," he noted, not making a topic out of my weird stance or the slap.

"Yeah. You too," I replied, pretending not to know this was his usual arrival time.

"I like to avoid the stampede." He grinned. "And also to do some studying," gesturing the books by his side with his eyes.

"Do you ever take a break?"

"Never." He grinned again; then asked, "So, do you have a meeting?"

"Meeting?"

"For the Ball. I noticed you've been arriving early the last couple of weeks; I assumed you were doing some planning with the committee."

He was referring to the days I came early to discuss the details of the senior school ball (which was not too far away now; it was just under a month away). I didn't think he noticed my presence. Both times when I saw him, he was outside the school building, making a beeline for the entrance. He was so wrapped up in his winter layers I didn't think he could possibly have seen anything that wasn't directly in his line of vision.

"Oh—no: there's no meeting today," I said. He stared at me, waiting for me to explain what I was doing here so early if not that. "Actually… I wanted to thank you… for last night."

"You did."

I cleared my throat before lifting my tote off from the ground and took hold of the container which held my thank you gift. I stiffly and nervously presented it to him. "Umm… Thanks."

The container hung out there for—what seemed like forever—before he stopped looking at it and made a move to accepting it. He took them in his grasp and returned his attention back up to me.

"Thanks," he said.

"They're chocolate-vanilla pinwheel cookies," I self-consciously explained.

"Did you make these?" I nodded. He returned to observe the contents before he held it up to his face and opened the corner of the container. He took a whiff—

"They smell delicious."

"They should taste good, too. I made sure."

He let out a chuckle. "I'm sure they do. Thank you."

Then things went silent; and he stared at me again. Knowing that in the past it was situations like these I usually freaked out and looked away, I challenged myself to hold it this time. I figured that if he felt so comfortable in looking straight into my eyes, then so could I. I was Kinomoto Sakura after all; and he was just Li. I was the school's most popular girl, prefect, organiser of the school's coolest social events, and fashion model: I was the one with all the status; he had nothing—well, except that he was extremely smart (one of the school's highest academic performers to be more accurate)—but smarts never was something that intimidated me.

Now, if only it was really all he had presently I might not have been so easily distracted. It was not until I steadied my gaze and really looked at him did I notice those damp, dark locks hanging messily over hiseyes that were more a deep amber than brown; and his face, with a layer of moisture on it, that seemed to make him glisten like he'd just come out of a hot, steamy shower. He was not only smart, but I realised he was also tall and sexily wet from the drizzly weather outside at the moment.

I mentally slapped myself over the head. _"Li does not come out of showers all steamy and he's definitely not sexy,"_ I stamped in my mind. If only he didn't look so great under that black, athletic-fit anorak, maybe my eyes would have been able to control themselves from scrolling down his lean frame, causing more unwanted thoughts.

"What is it?" Li asked.

I snapped my attention up to him and dumbly responded with—"Huh?"

"You shook your head."

"Did I?" He nodded. I must have done it without realising it when I tried to rid those thoughts. "I… umm… had some hair in my way," I made up, before shaking my head once for effect—which only caused a few strands to actually get caught at the corner of my lips.

I tried to dislodge them with another shake, only to have them stick there. I moved to flick at it, but Li got there just before I did, slipping a finger between the strands and my cheek. He slid along them, grazing the skin there and along my sensitive jaw line.

I dipped my head to cover the involuntary shiver just before he finished placing the strands back with the rest—

"Thanks," croakily I got out, before internally forcing myself to shake the feeling off. "Anyway, this is for that… I really appreciate you coming to get me… I wouldn't have troubled you if I could call anyone else. Tomoyo, my bestie, doesn't drive; and, as you know, her boyfriend is sick; and Takashi, too."

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling softly.

The thought of him and Natsumi popped into my mind then.

"I… umm… really hope I didn't interrupt anything for you guys."

"You didn't," he said.

"Are you sure?"

His eyes narrowed and his brows and lips pulled into a frown; and then—"What are you really asking?"

I felt my blood rush up my neck to my face, and a need to step back from this sudden scrutiny, only to be warned by a tiny jab from my locker door that I couldn't.

"What do you mean?" I returned nervously. "I was… making sure… that I didn't interrupt anything, is all."

As he'd just figured out what I was thinking, he relaxed the frown, and a look of amusement spread across his face. His lips were twitching, barely able to contain the smirk that I sensed was dying to show. I dislike that smirk. Ever since the day I saw it plastered on his lips when I played that prank on him, I've associated it with my loss of control and his gain of it.

"What do you think you interrupted?" he asked.

"I was just… um… wondering… if I…"

He continued his stare, waiting expectantly.

"If you and Natsumi were—"

"On a date?" he suddenly finished for me.

I started shaking my head (it seemed it was a habit of mine to deny anything he called me up on), but then I stopped myself mid-shake. I was curious, I wanted to know, and I didn't go through this conversation only to chicken out. I swallowed my pride and nodded—

"Mm."

His smirk evened up to a smile. "No; you didn't interrupt anything like that. We were out because of the victory—like you were with your friends."

A feeling of relief flowed through me before I found myself wondering why his answer made me react in such a way.

"I should get ready for class," he announced, interrupting my mind from deeper thought.

"Oh. Sure."

"Thanks for these," he said, referring to the cookies.

"I hope you like them."

"I will," he said, smiling.

I expected him to take his leave then, but he seemed to hesitate. His gaze shifted ever so slightly. Then, without warning, he made a move to close the distance between us: he leaned towards me, and in my peripheral, I saw his right hand move towards my left cheek. I stiffened momentarily, too shocked to move or think. And then my brain worked again: I bent away to try and recreate the distance, only to have myself brought back towards him by the other hand that was felt pressed against the small of my back.

"_Oh shit!" _I thought._ "What is he doing? Is he—am I dreaming about him again?"_ I bit the inside of my bottom lip to test this theory. I felt pain. Nope; this was definitely not a dream.

Now only inches from his face, and trapped, I closed my eyes in an attempt to control my racing heart and burning face: but when that familiar fresh, sweet scent of his shower gel suddenly wafted to my nose, the only thing I succeeded in doing was surrender. I stepped into him and discreetly pushed myself against his body, indulging in his scent, as well as the feel of his strong chest and the warmth that radiated from being so close to him. I still had no idea what he was doing—clearly, he was not going to kiss me as I'd first thought (my face was now inches from his broad shoulders and within kissable distance of his neck)—but I wasn't complaining.

A moment later, I felt his hand leave my back; and not long after that, a sound of metal against metal hit my ears. My eyes flew open, and I was sharply brought back to reality and to my senses.

"_What do you think you're doing?"_ I scolded myself, _"This is Li! You're not supposed to react this way to him!"_ Immediately I pushed myself away from him and took a few distance-separating steps off to the side.

"Sorry," I heard him apologise. "I was worried you'd back into your door and hurt yourself."

I flicked my focus to my locker and saw that the door had been closed.

"Well, see you in class," he said.

I nodded a stiff nod, making sure I kept my head down and avoid any eye contact: I was too afraid that if I didn't, I'd develop a blush—that is, if I didn't have one already.

He took his leave. I waited until he was at a safe distance before I fell back against the lockers behind me, breathing in a deep breath before drawing the breath out. Our second encounter in two days: both of them close in proximity, both of which I reacted to. Where were all these feelings coming from? Was I not able to stand within two feet of him without falling apart anymore?

Picking myself up, I walked to my locker and reopened its door. I bent down to my mirror to check my image. My reflection showed a red and disheveled look: my hair was still flat and still everywhere; my precision-lined eyes, fading as a result of my attempts earlier to clean the mascara smudges; and my once glossy lips, no longer so from repeatedly licking my lips. To think that this was what Li was staring at the whole time made me look away and cringe in embarrassment. Without spending another second standing around looking like this, I slammed the door shut and proceeded to walk briskly off to the girl's bathroom to fix myself.

By the time I re-emerged, I was greeted with the more familiar drama and chaos of the hallway. There were skateboards crossing, cheerleaders snickering, balls flying, footballers grunting, shoulder bumping, and bodies slamming. It was like a zoo; and for the average student, it can be rather daunting make it through these halls. Fortunately for me though, I wasn't average—and I say this in the most non-conceited way; I was just stating the facts; people just seem to respect me and move aside when I walk them.

With my hair and makeup redone, and my encounter with Li pushed way to the back of my mind, I strode through all the commotion in search of Kansuke. I wanted to talk to him, to see him; I wanted to find out why he didn't text me last night—or even this morning—to ask me how I was because it was the caring thing to do. I had taken about a couple of steps out of the girl's bathroom when I was greeted by Tomoyo.

"Sakura, wait up," she called.

I stopped and turned. "Good morning, Tomoyo."

"Hey. Look, I'm sorry for not coming out with you or calling you last night. Eriol was throwing up so much, I couldn't leave him."

"It's okay Tomoyo. I understand. So how is he this morning?"

"He still feels like throwing up when he moves too much, so I've ordered him to bed rest for the rest of the week. I'll have to drop by after school and check on him again."

"You two are so sweet," I said with a bit of envy, thinking about Kansuke and me. Tomoyo read me and said—"You'll get that with Kansuke when you work through all of this."

By 'this', she meant his inclination to flirt with girls all the time and constant disregard of my feelings and needs. If I believed he really cared about changing his ways for me—yeah, maybe, but I had huge doubts. He'll say he's sorry, and for a week it's all fine, but then after that, he'll go off and do it again.

"I wish I could believe that, Tomoyo, but I don't know…" I said as we began heading down the hallway again. "He continues to disappoint me. Like, yesterday, a good boyfriend would worry about my safety and wouldn't hesitate to take me home. Kansuke though, he was more concerned about missing out on the party scene, the drinks, the girls, than about me."

"You should have taken my mother's chauffeur. She wouldn't have minded; you know you're like family to her."

"I know, but she already does so much for me," I said.

When my mum passed away (from a freak skiing accident when I was six), Aunt Sonomi (that's what I call her) took it upon herself to treat me like her own daughter: she did things for me like a mother does and taught me all I need to know about being a girl. I have learned to lean on her like a mother, but she was still Tomoyo's mum (and a very busy CEO of her toy and electronic company at that), and a lot of the times I didn't feel comfortable enough to ask too much from her.

"Also, I'd feel so guilty waking up her chauffeurs just to pick me up," I added.

"So, did you talk to Kansuke?" Tomoyo asked, going back to him.

"Not really. After I got home, he didn't even bother texting me this morning to see if I was alright (I let out a sigh). I'll have to catch up with him lunch-time or something."

"You know I'm always here for you."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I thanked her nonetheless.

"So how did you get home last night?" Tomoyo then asked. I hesitated slightly before replying—

"I got a friend to come get me."

She turned to look at me; her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Who?"

"Umm…" I began, unsure if I should mention him or not. After my story about having a dream about him, I feared she was going to think something of it. I used the people coming towards us as a way to stall for time. Instead of cutting in between the girl and guy approaching us, I moved around to the outer path; and then I came back around and met up with Tomoyo again.

"Just someone," I answered, deciding on staying vague.

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at me with this suspiciousness in her eyes. "Could this someone be Li Syaoran?"

I turned on my feet to face her, surprised. "What?—No…" I couldn't lie to her and retracted: "Yes. How do you know?"

She giggled. "I'm that good!" She then added, "My eyes and ears are everywhere, Sakura. You should know that by now." I briskly walked to catch up with her. She let me in on how she knew. "I saw you and him this morning at your locker."

I felt my heart speed up and heat rise. "You saw? What did you see?"

"Just when you were giving him a container. I had to head to the music room after that to get some sheet music off of my piano teacher." She turned to look at me again, still walking. "Why, did I miss something?"

I firmly shook my head, but that didn't stop her from noticing what was happening on my face.

"Oh my God, you're blushing." She stopped fully this time and set her violet eyes directly at mine. "I did miss something! What did I miss?"

It was my turn to walk ahead of her this time.

"Nothing happened."

She caught back up with me a second later.

"You can't lie to me Kinomoto Sakura. No one blushes like that over nothing." I stayed silent. "Come on, I'm your best friend," she whined.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay… he was kinda helping me close my locker and I kinda leaned into him a bit when he held me my the waist to protect me from backing into it. It means nothing though. He was being so nice and thoughtful—I was just feeling vulnerable that's all, with Kansuke being such a jerk lately."

"No disrespect to Eriol, but if I wasn't with him, I'd be tempted by Li, too," she revealed out of nowhere. I turned to look at her, lifting a brow; and all I could think was, _"What game is she playing now?"_

"I just sense that he's a good, genuine guy. He's diligent, hardworking, and not very easily distracted—that's always a good indication of dedication and loyalty." She paused and looked at me—"a guy who sticks by you is what you want, isn't it?"

"What are you trying to get at?" She didn't answer as it seemed more of a rhetorical question, and continued with saying—

"And you've proven to me many times that he's also very caring and thoughtful, too. Add all those qualities to how striking and smart he is, what's not to like?"

"You think he's striking?" I asked, shocked she thought of Li this way.

"Well yeah. Not counting the fact that he's tall and seemed to really standout when he walks around the school, he's got these even thick lips, his lashes are so full and defined, and he's got those really mysterious-looking eyes. So, yeah, I think he's kind of striking—but don't tell Eriol I said these things about another guy; he'd totally never talk to me again."

She was joking of course about Eriol; and she let out a laugh to indicate that. Eriol was not the jealous type. He was a free-flowing kind of guy who trusted Tomoyo. Even if I did tell him, he'd probably just playfully give her a hard time before dropping the subject; and then that will be that because he knew Tomoyo loved him and only him, and vice versa.

"Hmm…It looks like some of the girls are starting to notice," she then said.

I followed her gaze to be greeted by Reiko Sato, Asami Suzuki, and Eri Matsuo on the left of me: a group of girls from our year, who I classified as second-rung in the social ladder, girls who occasionally mixed and socialised with us; and in the front of these girls was Li and a rather unhappy-looking Natsumi being smothered by them.

Natsumi caught my eye. She sent me a sad-looking smile as a way of greeting me; I smiled back empathetically, understanding the feeling completely.

"It's strange what one football game appearance can do to a person's popularity overnight," Tomoyo observed. I nodded, concurring. "So is it to Homeroom?"

"Yep."

A few metres further, we were there. It was a little quieter in here, but the scene was not very much different from what was out in the hallway. There were people on desks, at the front fiddling with the projector, and people throwing paper darts across the room.

"Hey, watch it!" I scolded as one of those darts almost hit my face. The classmate responsible came and picked it up, apologised to me, before resuming his dart throwing.

I took my seat at the back with Tomoyo beside me. It was rather empty still as most of my friends who sat with me were probably still getting here. I began unzipping my bag to prepare for class when I decided to go look for Kansuke.

"You know what, Tomoyo? There's still some time left, I think I might go and try finding Kansuke. Do you think you could look after my stuff?"

"Oh. Sure. Good luck."

"Thanks."

I got back up and made my way out of the classroom to see him: but of course not without bumping chest to chest with Li. It's funny how when you're trying not to think of a person, they appear everywhere. We apologised to each other before he took a step back to let me through first. I bowed my head to thank him before taking the path leading to Kansuke's locker.

I scanned overhead for a tall, blond-haired guy, in a sports jacket. A few metres on, I spotted him. I was ready to go right up to him and ask him point blank why he didn't care to call me to check that I got home alright, when Hisa Yamamoto (AKA Leech) sashayed up to him. They stopped, and so did I. Immediately, I slid against some lockers on my right; I searched around for something to hide my presence. A girl passed by me with her eyes in a magazine, and I saw my camouflage. I grabbed the magazine off her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry. I need this," I told the girl. "Come find me lunchtime and I'll repay you." She seemed to accept it and walked off.

Free to use the magazine, I peeked over the side of it. She was examining him like a piece of meat on a rack: she circled him not missing a detail, dragging a lazy hand over his body and feeling every contour. I felt so much like bitch-slapping her, but I restrained myself: I wanted to stay back and see how Kansuke was going to handle himself. I moved up closer to situate myself behind this kid's locker door. It was the perfect position: it was two lockers away from them, and I could hear everything.

The kid stared at me; I ignored him and carried on pretending to read my magazine.

"What are you doing?" Kansuke's voice sounded startled. It was a good sign he wasn't enjoying it like he usually does.

"What? You don't like it?"

"Sakura arrives aroundthis time. I don't want you to cause a scene."

"And so what if I do? I don't care."

"_Bitch!"_

"I do. So can you not do this?"

"What? This?"

I craned my head over the top of the kid's locker door to see her grinding against him. Rage coursed through me. _"That's it; I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."_ I surfaced from my camouflage, and stormed over to situate myself between the two, my face only inches from the Leech's.

"Get off of him!"

"Sakura, when did you arrive?" Kansuke asked me from behind; I ignored him, not done with the guy-stealing bitch.

"I'm so sick of you trying to get with my guy. He's not interested. Go to some trailer park and find your own guy—no, even they are too good for you: better yet, go to some swamp and fish yourself out a toad, and get the hell away from my boyfriend."

"Not interested you say?" Her voice was calm and smug. This made me seethe. "I think he liked it very much when I was giving him a good strip show last night, or how about when I was giving his abs a good lick over?"

"What is she talking about?" I asked Kansuke.

"It's not what you think. She's twisting things. They were games we were playing—"

"That's right. Games Kansuke and _I_ were playing in our hotel room."

"No, she's making it up."

"Don't deny it honey. She's going to find out sooner or later. It might as well be sooner."

"Shut up, Hisa," Kansuke turned to me and grabbed my shoulders, holding me still. "That's not what happened. It wasn't just her and me, it was all of us.

"So, what she did to you that still happened?" His silence told me what I already knew; I took in a controlled breath—"Did you do it to her?"

"No. Not her."

"What do you mean by 'not her'?"

For a few seconds, he had no answer. I swear I could see the changes in his expression as he scrambled for excuses. When he found nothing, he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him, trying to coax me.

"C'mon, it's all innocent fun; don't be such a drama queen, Babe."

I took his arms and threw them to his sides as I backed away from him in anger, and spoke through clenched teeth—"You're licking girls' torsos and watching them strip, and you're calling me drama queen?"

Kansuke seemed to hesitate, but he stuck with what he said and nodded. It was then I realised he was never going to change. If he wants to be with other girls, then let him. He and that Leech can have each other.

I turned to walk away just as the first bell for class rang (that was also the first time I noticed the many pairs of eyes watching our fight; I didn't care though). Kansuke called back to me.

"Okay. I get it, Babe. You're mad. I'll make it up to you."

I spun on my heel. "You say that all the time. You're supposed to be my boyfriend; you're supposed to care about me and look out for my well-being. Look at you, even now you still haven't asked if I got home alright."

"You're here this morning. Obviously you did."

That made my jaw drop.

"What kind of boyfriend lets their girlfriend fend for themselves on a creepy street at night, and lets another guy do the job of taking them home for him? How can you call me a drama queen, and then say you get it?" I shook my head in defeat. "Just forget it, Kansuke; you and that Leech have a great life together."

I turned to walk off again, but Kansuke grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. "Wait. What's this about letting another guy do the job for me?"

It wasn't my intention to get back at him or bring Li into this, but I wanted him to get a taste of what I felt.

"When you decided to go lick some girl's abdomen rather than make sure I had a ride, I had Li come take me home."

"That Loner?" His jaws clenched and an eye twitched.

"His name is Li Syaoran."

Kansuke maintained that clenched, twitching look then his expression changed to show a derisive grin. "Oh, I get it… you like that Loner and you want to use this as an excuse to break it off with me so you can have your way with him."

Oh my God! I don't even know how to dignify that with an answer! And that was exactly what I told him too.

"Because it's true," he returned, his tone sounding cocky and as-a-matter-of-factly. "And you know what? I'm not going to let you break it off with me."

Without answering him, I turned and I left down the hall. He continued to shout out how I was still his girlfriend whether I thought so or not. I just ignored him and continued walking. The fact that he suggested such a ridiculous idea showed me how much he truly didn't get it. It was like saying all of this was my fault. Well, I won't have to deal with him anymore, because as far as I was concerned, Kansuke and I are over.

© 5 December 2009

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**Comments to all readers:**

We are so sorry it took us so long to post up this latest chapter again!

**cupid17, rosedreamer101, broken emerald, James Birdsong: **Thank you for you guys for reading and leaving us your wonderful reviews! Muchly appreciated.  
**flowers:** You got your wish flowers! Syaoran, yeah you could say he's on the football team. It is the end of the season and he did play the last game, so yeah, we'll just say he is. :oD. So sorry for long absence. We hope to see you back despite it. Oooh, it's almost Christmas again. Ooh gosh. Thanks for last year's Christmas wish! You too for this year in case we don't update by then.  
**BiskElle:** Edward Cullen huh? Wow. Thanks for the comparison. In chapter 16, a bit of insight, Sakura didn't ignore Syaoran. It was just that Kansuke leaned in to kiss her and she returned the favour since he is her boyfriend. We suppose she could have been a little more considerate, but she's still not quite there yet. Hehe. We're very sorry for the long time between updates. We hope you return for this chapter.  
**insanity-ward:** Thank you so very much for your kind words. We hope this chapter is worth the wait. It's been a while hasn't it? We hope this chapter is better in terms of Sakura and Syaoran. We are trying to progress them! It'd be so great to see you back here reading. Sorry for the awfully late update.  
**lhaine07:** We hope to progress the Sakura and Syaoran relationship. Which way it goes, you'll still have to wait to see. We hope you stay long enough to find out. Again, sorry for the late update!  
**0.0:** Thank you very much for leaving comment on our story and for the lovely words. More intense emotions, thanks for the advice! We'll keep that in mind! We hope you return!  
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**michiko14anime:** Yeah, Sakura should dump that jerk, Kansuke too! Thanks for reading and reviewing.  
**AnonymousT****: **Finally an update! How we see it is that since Syaoran is such a good guy, he should have someone by his side. He being him, it's unbelievable he's single. But then we're thinking, it's him who's choosing to be single. He's talented in so many areas and tall, good-looking, he shouldn't be on the market for very long. We're glad you picked up that point of Kansuke treating Sakura as a trophy because that was what we were trying to get through.  
Thank you much for being so into the story. We love it as well as it helps us. When you give us feedback the way you do, it lets us know how well we're getting things across as well as make us think about things we might need to deal with. Tomoyo was definitely going to appear, it needed a situation that was tough enough for Sakura to seek advice. As for Sakura's family, we might leave that until it comes in. Thanks again so much!  
**KyouFan17: **Thanks for giving this story a try. We really hope you return!  
**Yami Umi:** We hope we did okay with this chapter too… And we hope that you'll return and read it! Thank you so much for leaving a comment!  
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**ambrosiaempress: **Here's your next chapter! Syaoran was out enjoying it all. No revenge intended. You're like a clairvoyant. The suggestion you made in the review will be coming soon.


	18. Chapter 18

**Skin-deep  
****©2010 By Julia and Tania****  
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic  
Chapter 18  
23 December 2010**

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******On the previous chapter: **Finally Sakura realises Kansuke's player ways. Glasses lifted, she dumps him.

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_**Location:**__ School  
__**Time frame:**__ School time  
__**Point of View:**_ _Sakura_

My proud strides took me not more than a metre towards Homeroom before I dashed to the girl's toilets. I went to hide away in the farthest toilet cubicle and cried. The squeaky noise of the door reverberated through the room some moments after. I stayed quiet and still.

There was neither the sound of the use of the toilets or basins, I could only hear rubbing of material against each other. After some long moments of inactivity from this person, there were finally some sounds of movement. I hoped she was exiting.

I saw a pair of feet appearing below. They stopped and stayed there.

"Sakura? Is that you in there?"

Anger streamed through me. It was Yamamoto Hisa. I wanted to scream and demand why she followed me, but I remained quiet, hoping she'd think it wasn't me and exit. The pair of feet didn't move.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Her concern was insincere. Again, I didn't answer and she continued. This time, her tone was true to her nature. "You are unappreciative and selfish, Sakura—you know that?"

I exited the toilet and banged the door open. There the Witch stood, with her arms folded across her chest, and showing her uneven smile across her face.

"The mouse comes out of hiding at last."

I stared her down with a steely glare. "I suppose you are going to lie to me and say you're not happy about this."

Her eyes were square on mine. "What's to be happy about when you suck the fun out with hiss-fits? You ruin the fun for us all, Kinomoto. 'I can't do this. I can't do that. You can't do this, you can't do that because I'm Miss Little Prefect.' I tell you, you are no catch. You dump Kansuke? He'll be fine. He was going to dump you anyway. Too claustrophobic, you are."

Her bullet found me and struck me at the chest.

"He was thinking of dumping me? He told you that?"

She chuckled with amusement. "So naïve and insecure."

"So you're lying?"

She did not answer me. She moved to the mirrors and with her index finger, she fixed her eye shadow. No amount of fixing could fix bad makeup. It was a combination of green and pink, applied clumsily. After many long moments, she turned back to me with a haughty smile on her lips.

"I admit it, Sakura. Yes, I am happy. I now don't have to hear that we have to stop having fun because of you. Don't you worry about Kansuke, and don't think this dumping of the most popular and hottest guy in the school as a feat of yours." She then snorted. "You are not a smart girl, are you?"

She had said something in there, but I didn't know what. By the time I returned from my thoughts to ask what she had meant, she was already out the door. The bell rang for Homeroom. I fixed myself then exited the bathroom.

Looking through the classroom door, the classroom looked daunting. The teacher's desk was still empty; Kansuke, Hisa, and his friends were at their desks. I took a deep breath; exhaled; then went in.

Besides the usual looks that people gave when one walks into class, everyone seemed disinterested in my presence. No one stared at me or gave me snickering smiles. Confused, but glad, I continued towards my desk. When I got closer to Kansuke, I stole a look at him—not much of a steal.

"Sakura Babe. Looking good as usual."

His greeting was odd for what had just happened in the hallway. I sought for an explanation, looking across to Hisa, but even she was confused and looked outraged as she urged Kansuke to change his attitude. He didn't do anything and returned to talking to his friends.

I sat down at my seat. Chiharu was now present and I greeted her; she returned it. Tomoyo turned to me.

"That took a long time. Kansuke and his friends came in five minutes ago. Where did you go?"

"Yeah, I had to go to the bathroom." I paused as I readied myself to deliver the news to my friends. "I broke up with Kansuke."

They looked at me with shock.

Tomoyo leaned in and whispered, "_What?_ You broke up with him?"

"Yeah."

"_Why? _What?—what happened?" Chiharu asked. She looked at me, Tomoyo, and then back at me. "I'm confused. Catch me up."

I indicated with a hand for her and Tomoyo to calm down. "I'll tell you guys everything later. I just wanted you guys to be in the know and not hear it through gossip." They nodded with concern. Sadness was in their eyes. I wanted to cry again, but I pushed everything back down.

"Judging from your shocked expressions, I can say I'm not yet the talk of the school?" I asked.

"No, nothing," Tomoyo replied.

"No, I didn't hear anyone talking," Chiharu said.

"Good," I said.

"This is so sudden. Are you sure it's over?" Chiharu then said.

"Mm. I'm the one who broke up with him, so yeah. Anyway, can we talk about this later, guys?—outside of school? I don't think I can keep my face straight and not cry if I start thinking about it all again."

"Yeah, sure…" Chiharu said. Tomoyo nodded then gave me a pat on my back before she and Chiharu inclined back into their seats.

Thunderous laughter boomed through the room, the noise coming from Kansuke's group—a little deafening to say the least. It eventually died down to a normal level. Talk then resumed as Kansuke spoke about an expensive car he saw this morning when he was driving to school.

How I wished things had not turned out the way they did. As I watched him now, I still had feelings for him. Even with the flaws, he still makes me want to be with him. I like his confidence and his out-going nature, and I like knowing that each day I had excitement and fun to look forward to because he was Ashida Kansuke.

Those thoughts and feelings instantly left me. Sounds of lips smacking echoed loudly and the Witch's obvious pleasure didn't miss a wall in the classroom. Shamelessly, Kansuke was kissing Hisa in front of the entire class, for all to see—for me to see. If I had believed he would keep his title of my boyfriend, thought that I was enough of a catch for him to seriously beg for my forgiveness, I was seriously wrong.

Every pair of eyes then turned to me as I became the spectacle. I could give no answer to their bewildered stares. They then turned to each other and begun discussion about this new development in the pitiful story that was mine.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Tomoyo asked.

Hot tears threatened to run down my cheeks. I could not speak; I could only shake my head to her question. I leaned towards her for an embrace; she left her chair and came to hug me. Chiharu came around to my other side and provided me the much needed second wall to hide myself from everyone.

He did it; he took it all from me. If it was his plan to reduce me to nothing because I had broken up with him then he succeeded; my strength, my pride, my self-esteem, my worth—everything, I had none of it. I willed myself to stay in control even as tears now on the verge of overflowing. I clenched my jaw and willed myself not to let the tears overflow.

Through blurry vision, I saw my friends partway to make room for Li. He came up and crouched at my desk.

"You will be okay, Kinomoto." His lips extended into a reassuring smile.

I nodded and found myself mirroring his expression, extending a small smile of my own. So much kindness and strength in his words that some of my own returned. He then placed a hand on top of my ones, placed on my lap, and squeezed it, giving me his support. I had no time to thank him or express how much that support meant to me when Mr. Hisamatsu entered the classroom. Li gave me one last smile before he stood up and returned to his desk.

Mr. Hisamatsu told everyone to do so also. It was when everyone had seated that Mr. Hisamatsu realised I was not well. In a swift manner, he asked if I wanted to go to the nurse's office, but I declined, feeling that I was alright to go through Homeroom. He nodded and began roll call.

My mind was a looping reel of Kansuke and Hisa from here onwards. It was all I could think about. Tomoyo told me to get it all out, say bad things about the two because it was good for me, but no amount of talking badly of the two could keep me from thinking about the hurt, the shame, and the betrayal I felt.

I lied to my friends at morning tea. I had told them I couldn't join them because I needed to talk to one of my teachers about an assignment when really I was going to the fields where I knew Kansuke and Hisa would be with the group. I took a seat behind the Drama and Music block, shielded by a divider and trees, and watched them. My hope was that I'd find Kansuke looking lost and dejected without me, but hope was all I had when I was stabbed with the painful reality of seeing Kansuke enjoying Hisa's company (and more) once again. I was thereafter numbed from feeling, and blank from thoughts, because I was unable to reason how Kansuke could be so cruel and heartless.

Lunchtime came. Tomoyo, Chiharu, Eriol, and Takashi joined me for lunch, the only ones who were still undoubtedly loyal to me. The others were with Kansuke and his now—dare I say it—girlfriend, Hisa. We sat behind the Arts building. It was a nice secluded place that looked out onto the fields. People rarely passed it which allowed us to enjoy lunch in peace. We had barely started lunch when we all heard chanting nearby.

"_Fight, fight, fight, fight."_

My eyes went to the first person I saw, Tomoyo, and her eyes came to look at me with the same curious look. Then, like lightning speed, I was struck with a thought. I didn't know why, but I thought of Kansuke. I didn't waste any time speculating if it was possible he was a part of this fight. I ran towards it.

There was a crowd big enough to shield me from seeing anything. I pushed my way through the resilient crowd. One protested in response to my rough pushes, but when she saw who I was, she changed her manner. "Hey, you're ex is pretty good. He's getting some pretty good shots at that loner, Li."

Hearing that Li was in the fight, urgency for an explanation came over me. "Why are they fighting?"

She jerked her head back and raised a brow. "What else? You, Kinomoto."

"Me? Why?"

"Yeah. Kansuke said you were a waste of time and things exploded from that."

I left the girl and went to head in to break Kansuke and Li up when Ms Shirai, my drama teacher, came in from behind me and parted the crowd to make way for her. I followed her tail to the front. She entered between Kansuke and Li and stretched her arms out to separate the two.

"Men, break it up! Break it up!"

Li fell back immediately, but Kansuke wanted to continue forth towards Li. He would have reached him if it were not for people holding him back. Kansuke finally settled after some moments. Ms Shirai pointed to the two.

"You two, follow me to the principal's office."

* * *

O O O O O

* * *

_**Location:**__ School  
__**Time frame:**__ A week later  
__**Point of View:**_ _Sakura_

Both Kansuke and Li were sent home that day and were suspended for a week. While I heard Kansuke went up to the hills to stay with his grandparents, Li, I didn't know where he was. After trying to reach him on his cellphone, messaging him many times then calling him and getting no reply, I went to visit him at his apartment, but he wasn't home on the two occasions I went. He wasn't at his workplace either. It was when I casually brought the topic up with Natsumi during the School Ball Committee meeting on the Tuesday following that week that I found out where he was. She told me he had flown out of the country to Hong Kong the evening of the day he was sent home, upon his mother's request. That was all I found out.

It was now Sunday, a week on. It couldn't come fast enough as the whole week I've been waiting for this day to approach so I could give Li's apartment another visit. I went downstairs a little after five-thirty and into Dad's office to tell him to not worry about my dinner and that I was heading over to a friend's place. He broke away from his work upon hearing this.

"Will you be going to Daidouji's place?" he asked.

"No, it's another friend, Li Syaoran."

"Li Syaoran?"

"Yeah. He's a really smart guy in my Calculus class. He gets A's all the time and he tutored me on it. He hasn't been at school for a week, so I want to see if he's better."

Dad pulled his glasses down. "Why was he not at school for a whole week?"

I couldn't tell him Li was suspended, that would defeat my purpose of making Li look good so I could go visit him. Dad would definitely think twice about letting me out tonight if I told him the truth, so I lied.

"He's been sick—with the flu."

He took a moment to think. "Don't stay out too late, alright, Sakura?"

I smiled. "I won't." And to prove to him I wouldn't be, I asked—"Do you want me to pick up something for tonight, so you don't have to cook?"

"It's quite alright, Sakura."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad. See you later."

"Please be safe."

"Mm."

I reached the hallway and began putting my shoes on, but recalling the worry in Dad's face, I went into the kitchen. Grabbing a piece of paper and pen below the notice board, I wrote down the address to Li's apartment and cellphone number, then went back into Dad's office. I handed it to him. I could tell he was appreciative of the thought. I then exited and made my way to Li's apartment.

It took half an hour to walk there. I was a little nervous standing outside the foyer area. I pressed the button to his apartment and waited for a reply. There was no answer until the second push.

"_Li Syaoran."_

"Hi, it's Kinomoto. Um, can I come up?"

There was a considerable pause before he answered, _"Uh."_

I then proceeded to the elevator. It took some moments before it came down. I entered. As it slowly slid shut, a girl came into view. She was walking slowly and her head drooped towards the ground. I didn't recognise who she was until her head tilted towards me when she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. I immediately stopped the elevator and called out to her—"Natsumi!" She stopped and turned. Her eyes were wide with shock when she saw me. I was full of shock, too, when I saw the skin around her eyes red and her face streamed with tears. I got out of the elevator and went to her side.

"Natsumi, are you okay? What's wrong?"

She blinked her tears away and straightened her face. Though she tried to sound normal, her voice croaked. "Oh, nothing. It's nothing. I'm fine, Sakura. What are you doing here?"

"I was just going up to see Li. Did something happen? Why are you crying?"

"No, nothing happened. I just… I just have a cold."

I heard a quiver in her voice, telling me she didn't 'just have a cold'—not that I believed such a lie. Though still curious, I didn't push on for she looked like she was about to break into another round of crying, and I didn't want to do that to her when she looked so fragile.

"Mm, I guess winter does do that to you. I'll see you tomorrow at school then, Natsumi."

"Mm, see you, Sakura."

I watched Natsumi briskly walk out.

Something did happen and the answer was up in Li's apartment. I entered into the elevator to resume my way towards it.

Li lacked a bit of cheer, otherwise, he was welcoming and greeted me with a smile when he opened the door. I decided I would query about Natsumi later with his suspension higher on my priority list.

I took a seat on the sofa as Li gestured for me to do so. He went to the kitchen to make some tea. A few minutes later, he came back with a pot of tea and two teacups. He filled my cup and his then handed mine to me. I took it and thanked him. The delightful aroma immediately came to my nose.

"It smells nice."

"It's Jasmine tea. You tried it before?"

"No."

"Try it."

I took a sip of it. "It's nice."

He smiled. "I'm glad you like it." He took a sip also then asked me, "How are you, Kinomoto?"

"Fine." I paused. "Are you… good?"

He chuckled. "I'm good."

"You're not mad at me?"

"No. Why would I be mad at you?"

"The whole of last week you weren't at school because you got into a fight with Kansuke. You got into the fight because of me." I held eye contact for a moment before dropping it to the ground, feeling guilt over the situation. Li's teacup came into view as he put it down onto the coffee table.

"I didn't get suspended because you got me suspended." I moved my gaze back up to him. "I've wanted to have a go at him for a while now."

"Even though you say you didn't get into the fight because of me, I'm still sorry for what happened."

"Don't be. I'm the one who swung a fist at him, you didn't make me." He changed the topic. "How are you with everything—with Ashida?"

My heart sunk for a bit with the mention of Kansuke. I had told myself to stop thinking about him because I didn't want to waste unnecessary energy on him and to hopefully forget about him, especially when he had already moved on. I would say I was still struggling, but not as much as the beginning.

"I'm getting there."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I do sometimes slip, but I'm fine. Not seeing him at school for a whole week helps somewhat."

Li looked at me with kind eyes. "I'm glad. I hope you forget about him soon. You deserve someone better."

"Thanks, Li."

I surveyed his face. I remembered the girl I talked to during the fight telling me Kansuke had put some good shots to him. I saw no signs of healing cuts or bruises on his face. He wore a sweater and shirt. Maybe they were hidden under those.

"Kansuke does Karate. I hope he didn't get you too hard."

"Karate had nothing to do with how he fought. His moves were sneaky and cheap. But no, he did not get me too hard."

"I'm glad then."

I moved on.

"I talked to Natsumi when I couldn't reach you last week. She told me you went home for the week because your mother requested you to. I hope you didn't get too harsh of a punishment from her."

He'd stiffened a little when Natsumi's name was mentioned. I dismissed it for the meanwhile.

"It was not too bad."

"What did she make you do?"

"I had to work in the office for the week."

"That's awful. You hate it."

"It was reasonable, I guess."

"I don't suppose you got paid?"

"No."

"Euh. Harsh."

He chuckled.

My eyes wandered and found a flight bag by the door. "Did you just arrive back into the country?"

"I arrived around lunchtime. It seems I forgot about that one. Thanks for telling me."

"No problem."

I then remembered the messages I sent to his phone. There were quite a number of texts I'd sent him in the course of the week. One revealed how much I worried and had tried to find him. It made me squirm, for obvious reasons.

"I don't suppose you've read the messages I sent you?"

"No. I'll check them now."

He lifted a foot; I flung a hand to stop him.

"No, I didn't mean for you to check them now. Um, actually… since you haven't read them, I was wondering if you could maybe delete them without reading them? I'll feel much better."

"Delete them?"

"Yeah, they pretty much say what I've already said this evening."

I waited as he was in thought.

"My phone is in my room. I'll go get it."

He got up from his seat and disappeared down the hallway. A couple of seconds later, he came back with his cell phone in hand, pressing some keys. Once he sat back down, he extended it towards me.

"You may delete the messages yourself, so you know they are deleted. Press 'Options' and select 'Delete'."

I thanked him and took it in my hand. It was already on the inbox screen. I scrolled past a couple of unopened messages from Takashi to get to mine. I deleted them. I felt better when the screen informed they had been deleted. My eyes caught onto the many texts below and I could not help notice how many were from Natsumi. I was tempted to click into a couple and sneak a read since they were already opened, but I resisted. I handed the cellphone back to Li.

"Thanks for letting me delete my messages."

"No problem. I would have liked to have read your messages personally, though."

"Too late."

He chuckled. "Okay."

"Hey, um, I bumped into Natsumi just before, down in the foyer." Li stiffened upon the mention and even looked away. "Did something happen?"

He continued to not look at me when he replied. "How was she?"

"She didn't look too good. She was crying. Why? What happened?"

After a long moment, his eyes came back up to me. "She told me she liked me. I told her I couldn't return her feelings."

The news shocked me before I was overcome with curiosity. "I thought you liked her—I mean, don't you?"

He was silent for several moments before he replied. "I'm involved with Jinwei."

I don't know why Jinwei always slips my mind. Of course he'd be _involved_. A guy like him does not stay available forever. He's smart, he's caring, and he's confident. I was pained. I know I wasn't supposed to feel this way, but just the other week he was telling me it was going to be okay. Why would he assure me it was going to be okay if… if he wasn't going to be there to make it okay?

My own internal thoughts surprised me. It sounded like I was expecting him to be by my side always, to catch me when I fall; to be there when I finally admit to myself that maybe I like—

"Are you okay?"

Li's interruption shattered my thoughts and I looked at him lost. "Sorry?"

"You went away from me. Are you okay?"

"Nothing's wrong. Did you say something?"

"Uh. I was wondering if you could help me keep an eye on Natsumi?—let me know how things are with her, until she's ready to talk to me again."

I nodded. "I can do that for you."

"Thank you. I appreciate it a lot."

"Sure."

I fiddled with the charms on my bracelet; then reached for my teacup and drank some tea. I returned back to Li.

"So, you and Jinwei, it's not complicated anymore?"

He took a moment before he answered. "Not so much now. I find Jinwei somewhat good for me."

"Oh, that's good."

"Uh. Mother is pleased that I have come around."

"You say it with dislike."

"I am happy to be with Jinwei, but Mother's inputs are… frustrating."

"What does she do?"

"She wants Jinwei and me at the same universities, live in the same apartment, and I have this suspicion she is working her way to getting me to propose to her."

"Propose to her?"

"Not anytime soon of course, but she's working towards it."

"You like her, so…"

"Yes, but my mother's constant input is driving me mad."

"So, Jinwei is following you to the UK?"

"First, I have to get pass the interview then be accepted into the university. Otherwise, Jinwei will be in the UK by herself. But yes." He chuckled. I chuckled also—a half-hearted one.

"So this university you've applied for, it's really hard to get into then?"

"It's one of the top universities in the world."

"Congratulations for getting to the interview stage."

"Thank you."

"When's the interview?"

"During winter break."

"And Jinwei has applied for the same university?"

"No, a different one; but I hear it's not too much travel between the two."

"That's good…"

Silence fell. The glassy surface of the coffee table became my muse.

I could feel his gaze on me. I could no longer pretend I wasn't noticing it. I looked up.

"What is it?"

"What are you doing next year?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard from the agency for quite a while, so I don't know what's going to happen with the modelling contract I have now. Not many people want me, I guess. I haven't discussed with my agency what happens if I want to go full-time modelling either—that is, if it is possible for me to. I'm not sure, really. I might want to go to university; see how it is, maybe get a degree, and become really smart like you—well, probably not as smart as you since you are freakishly smart."

He chuckled. "Thanks?"

"It _is_ a compliment."

"Then thank you." He chuckled once again then seriousness returned to him. "Kinomoto, you are one of the school's prefects, you are smart; and very beautiful. You will have a great future."

The word 'beautiful' went around in my head. Many times before he'd said such things about me, but this time, it meant so much more.

I changed topics.

"The ball is coming up. Are you going? It's the last dance ever, you know?"

"When is it?"

"You don't know when it is? I've been talking about it in assemblies and during Homeroom for weeks now!"

He held two hands up in defence. "I do hear you making announcements, but I seem to have misplaced the information."

"I get it. I bore you."

"No. It's just that… (He changed tact) I'm… sorry?"

"Never mind. As long as you attend, I'll forgive you. It's on the Thursday evening of the last week of the term."

"I see. Where is it held?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's at the ice skating rink."

Confusion appeared on his expression. "The ball is at an ice skating rink?"

"Yes."

"I can't imagine it."

"Oh imagine it. It's going to be spectacular. I've already booked the venue and dates have been set to decorate the place. It's happening."

"What's the attire?"

"The usual for a ball! The guys wear tuxedos and the girls: gowns."

"How would one skate?"

"Like normal. Just don't wear anything that will get caught on your skates. My friends and I have gowns already."

"Sounds interesting."

"Interesting enough to come? I'll be announcing the ticket prices on Friday's senior assembly."

"I don't know how to ice skate."

"We can go together. I'll teach you."

"Are you asking me to go to the ball with you?"

I thought about the question for a moment.

"I guess… I am."

He seemed to think about it, but no cigar. "It is tempting, but I will have to pass to use the time to prepare for my interview."

"You are impossibly boring, Li."

"I'm sorry, Kinomoto."

"No, it's fine. I should've thought to never try putting some fun into your schedule. It's always so predictable you'll choose to do work than go have some fun."

I honestly thought he would accept my invitation because I had especially asked him to come. I thought there might be a part of him that might still be affected by me. I guess I was wrong. Maybe he really was over me.

My words had silenced him and he looked at me with a deal of regret. I had not at all intended to make him feel bad, only wanted him to come. I afforded him an apologetic smile then tried him once more.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the ball and be my date for it? I'm a lot of fun. I have references if you need proof."

"In a different circumstance, I would have loved to go to the ball with you, but I should prepare for the interview."

"Well, okay. I thought I would try you. It's no problem."

He gave me a smile. "I'm happy you thought to invite me, Kinomoto. I hope you enjoy the evening."

"Mm."

Li's attention went to my teacup. "You are out of tea." He lifted the teapot and started refilling it. I hadn't thought about wanting more tea, nevertheless, I watched him pour.

The golden liquid streamed into my cup. A moment later, it was full. Li pushed it towards me. "Here you are." I thanked him and went to grab it. My fingers touched his.

Li moved his hand away. I was a little slow. My hand was still on the teacup. He looked up at me, apologetic. He then resumed, refilling his cup.

I internally shook some composure into me. _"You are acting really stupid, Sakura! Snap out of it!"_

Li finished pouring and placed the teapot back down onto the coffee table. I felt self-conscious when he found my gaze on him. Words then suddenly came spilling out of my mouth, stringing a sentence that was shocking even to me!

"I'll miss you."

His brows knitted and eyes became scrutinising. "Miss me?"

Had I said it with a bit more of an upbeat tone, like one would say between friends, I could have joked it off. Instead, I was darting to every corner of the apartment looking for an out. The microwave in the kitchen gave me one. I stood up.

"No, nothing. I didn't mean anything by it. Anyway, it's almost seven. I need to go get dinner, so I should go get it. I need—I mean I'll get going now."

I picked up my tote and briskly walked to the door, wanting to get out of this apartment as fast as possible before Li had a chance to question me further.

He followed me to the door.

"Where are you going to get dinner? I can take you there."

"I haven't decided yet. It's okay."

I reached for the door knob and turned, but for the life of me I was having trouble understanding how to turn a door knob as to open the door. Li undid the lock chain above, showing me that it was what was keeping me from opening it. I pulled it open. I was finally free to exit from this humility when Li pulled me back with a hand to my shoulder.

"Can you stop for a bit?"

I stopped. I gazed at him as he gazed at me.

"Do you like me, Kinomoto?"

I took a step back.

"What?"

"You act so strangely around me. It's not just this evening, other times, too."

"What other times?"

I could not be far enough from him now.

"That's not important." He entered my personal space. His lofty stature overpowered me. "You haven't answered my question."

His shadow cast over me. I was unable to remove myself from him as he locked me with his gaze. He started to descend. I made a feeble attempt to push him away with a hand to his chest. It was what I thought I should do rather than what I wanted to do. I wanted him to kiss me. I let my hand tell him to continue.

His lips barely touched mine before he backed off and hovered, seemingly unsure about something. I brought my lips back to his, showing him it was okay and that I wanted more. He jerked away from me.

I was confused by the action.

I decided to go for it again only to be left in the cold as he backed away again. _If he didn't want to kiss me, why make me think he did?_ I took myself off of him once I realised he wasn't going to change his mind, and turned towards the door with my head down to the ground to hide the hurt and humiliation I felt.

Li spun me back to him with a grip to my arm. After being shocked by the sudden force, I looked up into his serious cast in wonder.

"Li…? Why did you… turn me back?"

I could tell thoughts were going through his mind as his eyes searched mine. Then they softened as he took a step to close the gap between us and brought his lips down onto mine.

The kiss was as I remembered and it had the same effect; I felt lightheaded and flighty.

"Syaoran…"

I felt Li momentarily stop, before he continued again. I drowned in his kiss which had become hungry.

A nagging feeling started to surface. A quiet voice began telling me things:

_"This is wrong. You have to stop this."_

I ignored it.

"_Stop! He has a girlfriend! You CAN'T!"_

I immediately pulled away. I looked up at Li. He looked shocked and lost. I took a step back; then a couple more.

"I'm sorry… _I'm so sorry!_"

I then ran.

© 23 December 2010

* * *

**Comments to all readers:**

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Syaoran being almost too perfect in our story, hmm... We don't see him as perfect. We're very conscious of characters being too perfect; and we've tried to not make Syaoran too much so. We don't like Mary Sues/Lous either. We've made him to be talented in a lot of areas, but still fall and fail now and then. Reading the chapters, is that what you're receiving from Syaoran's character?

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